Brazilian author tackles life questions

Brazilian author Alfredo Karras is used to taking on big issues. As a newspaper cartoonist his political cartoons have often drawn the ire of the military in Brazil.

In his first book, entitled Be, Karras turns his attention to major life questions, delivering an insightful and enlightening novel. The moral allegory tracks the powerful journey of Knight Henrique who discovers life is a consequence of choices. "We make choices every moment, every second, often not realizing what we are doing ...The small choices we make each moment lead us to big ones; crucial moments in which we must decide which way to go," the book states.

What emerges is life wisdom in the tradition of Richard Bach and Antoine de Saint-Exupery. “I want to help people to discover the power that exists in their souls,” Karras says.

The book also includes beautiful illustrations created by the author. With limited access to water colors, Karras used a mixture of color pens and water to create them. "When you are poor, you must to be creative," he says.

Be is the first book to be published by Australian publisher Smink Works Books. Publisher Suzanne Male says the book stood out because of its positive and innovative content. “Without giving away too much, I like the fact that it completely eliminates regret; that it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, you can still change and have a positive impact on society.”

“It is a book with a great deal of depth. It has obviously come from the hand of a very thoughtful man who has spent much time musing on life. That really shows in the book; it doesn’t just revise theories already in existence, it goes beyond that.”

Be is available in both English and Karras’s native language, Portuguese. (Smink Works has created a special Portuguese site at http://www.sminkworks.com/br). The novel is currently available as an e-book in Microsoft Reader, Adobe Reader and Palm formats and will be available in print in the near future.