The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
 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 first worm that gnawed his cold body: "To the worm who first gnawed on the cold flesh of my corpse, I dedicate with fond remembrance these Posthumous Memoirs." (in Portuguese: Ao verme que primeiro roeu as frias carnes do meu cadáver dedico com saudosa lembrança estas Memórias Póstumas.) Cubas decides to tell his story starting from the end (the passage of his death, ironically caused by pneumonia after inventing the "Emplasto Brás Cubas", a supposedly revolutionary medicine), 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). It's a novel recalled as a major influence by many post-modern writers, such as John Barth or Donald Barthelme, not to mention just about every Brazilian writer in the 20th century.