On a recent trip to Brazil, Salman Rushdie confessed his appreciation of the workd of Machado de Assis. Similarly, on the occasion of the release of his film, Matchpoint, Woody Allen expressed his admiration for the author of Dom Casmurro. Cultural supplements in newspapers and magazines have enthusiastically reprinted these encomiums for the author of The Posthumous Memoirs of Br s Cubas. Is it possible that a "master on the...