The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás 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 (born in Rio de Janeiro City, then Imperial Capital of Brazil). 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. It is considered the first novel of the realist movement in Brazil. Outline The novel is narrated by the dead protagonist Brás Cubas, who tells his own life story from beyond the grave, noting his mistakes and failed romances. The fact of being already deceased allows Brás Cubas to sharply criticize the Brazilian society and reflect on his own disillusionment, with no sign of remorse or fear of retaliation. Brás Cubas dedicates his book: "To the worm who first gnawed on the cold flesh of my corpse, I dedicate with fond remembrance these Posthumous Memoirs" (), which indicates that not a single person he met through his life deserved the book. Cubas decides to tell his story starting from the end (the passage of his death, caused by pneumonia), then taking "the greatest leap in this story", proceeding to tell the story of his life since his childhood. The novel is also connected to another Machado de Assis work, Quincas Borba, which features a character from the Memoirs (as a secondary character, despite the novel's name), but other works of the author are hinted in chapter titles. It is a novel recalled as a major influence by many post-modern writers, such as John Barth or Donald Barthelme, as well as Brazilian writers in the 20th century. Plot The author explains the style of the book before beginning the story with his funeral and cause of death - "Brás Cubas poultice", a medical panacea that was his last obsession and "would guarantee him glory among men". He then goes back to his childhood. He was a wealthy, spoiled and wicked child. From an early age he showed signs of a perverse nature, beating the heads of his slaves when he was not attended to in some desire or playing at horse-riding on the back of a young male slave named Prudêncio. At