LINS DO REGO CAVALCANTI, JOS

born June 3, 1901, Pilar, Paraba, Brazil died Sept. 13, 1957, Rio de Janeiro novelist of Brazil's Northeastern school of realists, best known for his five-book Sugar Cane Cycle, which described the clash between the old feudal order of plantation society and the new ways introduced by industrialization. Lins do Rego grew up on a plantation, and the first work of the cycle, Menino de Engenho (1932; Plantation Lad), is based on his own boyhood and family. It was followed in quick succession by Doidinho (1933; Daffy Boy), Bang (1934; Old Plantation), O Moleque Ricardo (1935; Black Boy Richard), and Usina (1936; The Sugar Refinery). The first three volumes of the cycle were published in English translation as Plantation Boy (1966). The author returned to the plantation setting with Fogo Morto (1943; Dead Fire), now considered to be his masterwork. Having studied law, Lins do Rego briefly practiced in the 1920s and thereafter was a bank and tax inspector.