The impact of his father's disappearance on his family's life, especially on his mother, Eunice Paiva, is portrayed in his autobiography Ainda estou aqui (2015) which was adapted to film in 2024.

At the age of six he moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1966, after his father, then a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, was impeached and exiled following the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état.

[1] In 1983, after extensive physiotherapy, he gained the movement of both arms and hands and wrote Feliz Ano Velho (Happy Old Year), an autobiographical recollection of these events and his entire life.

[3] He graduated in Communication Radio & TV (USP; 1982–87), drama course (Centro de Pesquisas Teatrais do Sesc-SP; 1989–90), master in Literature (Unicamp; 1991–94) and the Knight Fellowship Program (Stanford University, CA; 1995–96).

Marcelo Rubens Paiva has also written Feliz Ano Velho (1982, Prêmio Jabuti), Blecaute (1986), Ua:brari (1990), Bala na Agulha (1992), Não És Tu, Brasil (1996), Malu de Bicicleta (2003), A Segunda Vez Que Te Conheci (2009), Orangotango Marxista (2016) by Companhia das Das Letras, As Fêmeas (1994), O Homem Que Conhecia as Mulheres (2006) and As Verdades Que Ela Não Diz (2012), Ainda Estou Aqui (prêmio Jabuti 2015), Meninos em Fúria (2016), Menino e o Foguete (Jabuti de 2017).

(1999, Prêmo Shell), Mais-Que-Imperfeito (2000), As Mentiras que os Homens Contam (2001), Closet Show (2001), No Retrovisor (2002), Amo-te (2006), A Noite Mais Fria do Ano (2009), O Predador Entra Na Sala (2010).