"Machado is both a first-rate humorist and a prescient experimenter with narrative convention. This fresh translation.will hopefully attract new readers to one of the great 19th-century novelists."--Publisher's Weekly"In superbly funny books, [Machado] described the abnormalities of alienation, perversion, domination, cruelty and madness. He deconstructed empire with a thoroughness and an esthetic equilibrium that place him in a class by himself."--K. David Jackson, The New York Times Book Review"Machado de Assis is Brazil's greatest novelist, and ranks high among the most appealing writers in the world. Though he lived mainly in the 19th century, Machado possesses an almost postmodern sensibility--playful, ironic and tricky.

"--Washington Post Book World.