About Machado de Assis
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839–1908) was a Brazilian novelist, short-story writer, poet, critic and chronicler from Rio de Janeiro, and the first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (1897). His novels include Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas (1881), Quincas Borba (1891) and Dom Casmurro (1899). For decades he also wrote crônicas for Rio newspapers, including the weekly series A Semana (1892–1897).
Works by Machado de Assis
3 essays to practice
Crônica dos burros
Riding a Rio tram, Machado overhears the two mules that pull it debating whether electric trams will set their kind free.
Beginner · Short
About 33 min to type
Vae soli!
Machado imagines the widow behind a newspaper advertisement for a husband who, like her, is tired of living alone.
Beginner · Short
About 21 min to type
A reforma pelo jornal
A twenty-year-old Machado argues that the newspaper, by turning the written word into public discussion, will undo the old aristocracies.
Intermediate · Short
About 25 min to type
Machado de Assis’s writing style
Machado writes with understated irony, often stepping aside to talk to the reader, and lets a small event of the week open onto a larger observation about people. His sentences are clear and light, and his humor hides a skeptical view of human vanity.
How to write like Machado de Assis
Pick one of Machado de Assis’s essays and retype it word for word. Copying slows you down enough to notice how each sentence is built: where it starts, how long it runs and which words carry the weight. Keep the style notes above in mind as you type, then write a paragraph of your own in the same voice. New to this? Read what copywork is and how to do it.