Face

When it was first published in 1985, Face met with critical acclaim and established Cecile Pineda among the very first Latina writers in the United States to be published by a major New York house. This new expanded edition, which marks the announcement of Face as a 2013 Neustadt Prize finalist, features a foreword by Nobel Prizewinning author J. M. Coetzee and a never-before-published interview with the author conducted by Dr. Francisco Lomel. The novelbased on an actual eventtracks the fortunes of Helio Cara, a poor but brilliant Brazilian man. When he hears that his mother is dying, Helio rushes from his shack in one of Rio de Janeiros favelas to the local telegraph office, only to fall down a steep hillside and literally lose his face, and in turn his identity. He rapidly loses his job, his lover, and his friendshis neighbours go so far as to burn down his shackand flees to the Brazilian interior to live as an outcast in his mothers tiny house. Pineda deftly, hauntingly records Helio Caras decision to perform self-surgery, using only novocaine, to reconstruct his face and identity. This compelling metaphor for identity, already taught in American and Latino literature courses in numerous universities, stands ready to engross a new generation of readers.