Machado de Assis, << mah SHAH du dih ah SEES, >> Joaquim Maria (1839-1908), was a Brazilian author who wrote chiefly about the lives of urban, middle-class Brazilians of the 1800’s. His many novels and short stories combine a realistic style with sensitive psychological analyses of the characters. In his works, he experimented with the use of humor, irony, and different points of view. In his stories, Machado explored the universal aspects of human nature, analyzed the reasons for the ways people think and act, and raised questions about the meaning of life.
Machado’s first major novel was Memorias Postumas de Bras Cubas (1881), which was translated as Epitaph of a Small Winner. His other novels include Philosopher or Dog? (1891), Dom Casmurro (1900), Esau and Jacob (1904), and Memorial of Ayres (1908). Some shorter fiction was translated into English and published after his death in The Psychiatrist and Other Stories (1963). The Collected Stories of Machado de Assis was published in English in 2018. Machado was born in Rio de Janeiro on June 21, 1839. He died on Sept. 29, 1908.
