Spilt Milk (novel)
2009 novel by Chico Buarque
Spilt Milk (original title in Portuguese: Leite Derramado) is a novel written by Chico Buarque.
Synopsis
A very old man is in a hospital bed. A member of a traditional Brazilian family, he presents the history of his family in a monologue addressed to his daughter, the nurses, and anyone else who will listen. He follows his family's path from his Portuguese ancestors, including a baron of the Empire, and a First Republic's Senator, down to his grandson, a youth from Rio de Janeiro. His family saga is characterized by social and economic decadence against the background of Brazilian history over the last two centuries.
Awards and Recognitions
Voted best book of 2009 by readers of O Globo.
2010 São Paulo Prize for Literature — Shortlisted in the Best Book of the Year category
Editions
Brazilian edition
Leite Derramado, São Paulo, SP: Companhia das Letras, 2009. ISBN 978-8-5359-1411-5
Translations
English translation by Alison Entrekin, Spilt Milk, New York, NY: Grove Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-8021-2008-3
French translation by Geneviève Leibrich, Quand je sortirai d'ici, Paris: Gallimard, 2011. ISBN 978-2-07-012817-4
German translation by Karin von Schweder-Schreiner, Vergossene Milch, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 2013.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Spilt Milk (novel)” is 2009 novel by Chico Buarque. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Spilt, Milk and novel, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “2009 novel by Chico Buarque” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6520356. The first chronological checks are 2009, 2010, 1411 and 2012.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Spilt Milk (novel)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Spilt Milk (novel) primary sources, Spilt Milk (novel) archive and Spilt research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Spilt Milk (novel)”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Spilt Milk (novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.