Sergio Y.
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The acclaimed Brazilian author’s prize-winning, “captivating [and] impeccably structured novel” of a therapist and the trans patient he lost (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Armando, one of the most renowned therapists in São Paulo, is nearing the end of a long, illustrious career. Against his better judgment he agrees to take on a new patient: Sergio, the teenage son of a wealthy Brazilian businessman. Sergio suffers from malaise and his parents are concerned. But after a number of sessions, Sergio abruptly interrupts his course of therapy following a trip to New York, saying only that he has found his own path to happiness and must pursue it alone.
Though perplexed, Armando lets the matter rest without further ado. That is, until he learns from the boy’s mother that Sergio has moved to New York in order to become Sandra. Shocked by this revelation and disappointed in his own lack of awareness, Armando embarks on a journey to discover the truth about his former patient—and about himself.
Winner of the Paraná Literary Prize for Best Novel, Sergio Y. is “a beautiful, moving, profound book . . . Wonderfully accomplished and subtle” (Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Porto's captivating, impeccably structured novel is a detective story wrapped around a deeper exploration of identity. Armando proclaims himself at the outset to be one of S o Paulo's best doctors, but the case of a 17-year-old named Sergio haunts him, due to Armando's failure to diagnose a critical aspect of the unhappiness Sergio sought to eradicate through therapy: namely, Sergio's wish to become a woman. Even though Sergio insists after discontinuing therapy that Armando helped him realize the course his life must take, Armando still considers the treatment a missed opportunity. Only after Sergio's death does Armando learn about Sergio's move to New York City and his path to becoming a woman named Sandra. Plagued by self-doubt about whether he inadvertently led Sergio to his death, Armando begins an investigation into Sergio's journey as well as his own role in moving Sergio toward his ultimate destiny. The result is a methodical and deeply layered narrative about the sacrifices we make in the search for happiness.
