Fonseca, Rubem, 1925–2020, Brazilian short-story writer and novelist. Fonseca, who studied law and worked for a time as a police officer, is known for urban crime tales, many informed by his police work. His protagonists tend to be police officers, criminal lawyers, or private detectives; his works are filled with violence and sex. His first book of stories, O prisoneiros [the prisoners] (1963), which describes the criminal side of Rio, was followed by the stories of A coleira do caäo [the dog collar] (1965). His first novel was O casa Morel [the Morel case] (1973). A grande arte [high art] (1983; film Exposure, 1991), his most popular novel, features the lawyer-detective Mandrake, a recurring character, and concerns the murder of a prostitute. Fonseca wrote the screenplay for it and for his detective novel Bufo & Spallanzani (1986; film, 2001). Some of his stories are translated in Winning the Game (2013).
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