Nélida Cuiñas Piñon figures as one of the major contemporary writers of fiction in Brazilian literature. Her foremost contributions are novels and short stories. She holds a degree in journalism and has brought many literary topics into focus in the leading Brazilian newspapers. Though the author resides in Rio de Janeiro, she is a world traveler by avocation and spends periods of time living in Brazil, Europe, and the United States. An articulate and knowledgeable lecturer, she is continually invited to address university communities throughout the world on subjects ranging from her own fictional works to Brazilian topics to Latin-American literature. Since January 1991 Piñon has spent four months every year as the incumbent professor of the Dr. Henry King Stanford Chair in Humanities at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. When in Rio de Janeiro she assumes various...