Clairvoyant: Selected Cronicas

In the magnificent feast of Clarice Lispector’s writing, her crônicas—short, vivid, off-the-cuff newspaper pieces—are the toothsome canapés she whipped up every Saturday

I am convinced that during the Stone Age, I must have been wounded by the love of some man, because a certain secret fear of mine dates from that time.

The crônica, a literary genre peculiar to Brazilian newspapers, allows writers (or even soccer stars) to address a wide readership on any theme they like. Chatty, mystical, i...