The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas

The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
The author dedicated this copy to the Biblioteca Nacional, the National Library of Brazil.
AuthorJoaquim Maria Machado de Assis
Original titleMemórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas
TranslatorGregory Rabassa
LanguagePortuguese
GenreNovel
PublisherOxford University Press (Eng. Trans. hardback edition)
Publication date
1881 (1 October 1997 Eng. translation)
Publication placeBrazil (Rio de Janeiro)
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages238 p. (Eng. Trans. hardback edition)
ISBN0-19-510169-3 (Eng. Trans. hardback edition)
OCLC35586796
869.3 20
LC ClassPQ9697.M18 M513 1997

The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (Portuguese: Memorias Posthumas de Braz Cubas, modern spelling Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas), also translated as Epitaph of a Small Winner, is a novel by the Brazilian writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis that is regarded as one of the greatest works of Brazilian literature. The book is presented as the memoirs of its protagonist, Brás Cubas, as told from beyond the grave.

Published in 1881, the novel has a unique style of short, erratic chapters shifting in tone and style. Instead of the clear and logical construction of a normal nineteenth-century realist novel, the novel makes use of surreal devices of metaphor and playful narrative construction.