Ninety-four middle-aged men – all unremarkable, and seemingly chosen at random – must die, in order to consummate the aims of a globe-spanning conspiracy. And now a single man, well-beyond their years, must determine the common bond that unknowingly unites them – or see this malevolent design unleashed on the world.

“I read The Boys from Brazil for the first time when I was fourteen and it informed my notion of what a thriller is supposed to be. It should grab you by the neck and engross you from start to finish. It should give you chills. And make your lip curl in disgust. The plot should push the boundaries of outrageous, fantastic, bizarre, and every one of these far-out twists should make you grin with delight. You should want blood. Revenge. You should squeeze your eyes shut and turn your head away. And when it’s all over, and resolved, you should pump your fist in the air with satisfaction.”
    —Chelsea Cain (2011 Introduction)

One of Levin's most iconic tales, The Boys from Brazil is a fast-paced, globe-trotting techno-thriller that asks – as do his This Perfect Day, The Stepford Wives and Sliver – what are the darkest uses to which emerging scientific and technological advancements can be put (variously: computers, cloning, robotics, chemically-induced behavorial control, hi-tech surveillance...)

“I could not put down The Boys From Brazil until I had finished it. It was no test of endurance, I had no sense of the passage of time, one minute I was on page five and the next I was done, grinning with satisfaction.”
    —Luna Monthly (Paul Walker) (1976)

Typically ahead of the curve, Levin spotlighted the nascent technology of cloning, some 20 years before the appearance of "Dolly the Sheep."

LEVIN-ON-LEVIN

“According to Newsweek, there was a copy of The Boys From Brazil in that house that supposedly Josef Mengele died in... so I’d like to think that he read it and that he was perhaps furious that some Jew writer in New York was using him as the villain of a pop novel.”
    —Levin, New York Public Library interview (1992)

The Aquarian asked Levin in 1978: “So many of your books seem to anticipate new ideas in society. Rosemary's Baby coincided with a rebirth of interest in the occult, The Stepford Wives was written just before women's liberation came to the forefront, now cloning and The Boys from Brazil. Are you planning this?” Levin, laughing, replied: “No, I just try to keep one step ahead of everybody else. I try to keep up with all the latest scientific goings on because that's the sort of thing that interests me. [...] Once in a while I see something and say to myself, “Hmmm. That would make an interesting Story.” I try to keep open to as many sources as possible—stimuli that might spark something in me.”

“I liked The Boys from Brazil because I felt that the structure was very elegantly worked out. It was a complex idea that took me a long time to put into dramatic shape. It's just a good strong story from start to finish.”
    —Levin, Arts Guardian (London) (1978)

“Nazis make terrific villains.” —Levin, Women's Wear Daily (1977)

SUGGESTED READING / WATCHING

• An Interview With Ira Levin’s Son As ‘The Boys From Brazil’ Turns 48 (Forbes.com)
• The Moment(s) When I Realised Ira Levin Was A Genius (Tom Trott)
• A little Boys from Brazil stand-up comedy – we kid you not.

FUN FACT

• We think we may have spotted an outward-facing copy of the book on – of all places – the "Married With Children" set...