Quincas Borba

Hailed in his lifetime as one of Latin Americas greatest writers, Machado de Assis (18391908) was a storyteller known for his wholly innovative narrative techniques and uncanny talent for unraveling the social and political milieu of nineteenth-century Brazil. These signature traits are on full display in Quincas Borba, a novel that sees Machado satirize a rapidly changing Rio de Janeiro. Originally published in 1891, the story begins with the death of its titular character, a mad philosopher infamous for spouting pessimistic theories of Humanitism. Borba leaves his fortuneincluding his dog, also named Quincas Borbato Rubio, his loyal caretaker and a schoolteacher by trade. Bestowed with opulence beyond his wildest dreams, Rubio is quickly coaxed into the comforts of a rich mans lifethe only stipulation being that he continues to care for the canine Quincas Borba with the same dedication he once did the human. Adrift in the big, bad, bustling world of late-1860s Rio de Janeiro, it isnt long before Rubio is targeted by the citys sycophants, who can smell his navet from a mile away. Playfully told by an omniscient and possibly unreliable narrator, the novel is at once irreverent and ambitious, brimming with barbed wit and keen philosophical inquiry. Brilliantly translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Pattersonthe duo credited with introducing a new generation of readers to Machado through their translations of Dom Casmurro, The Collected Stories, and Posthumous Memoirs of Bras CubasQuincas Borba is another strikingly modern tale from a blazing progenitor of twentieth-century fiction.