Paper man

João Almino's novel revives Machado de Assis' character Counselor Aires and transports him to the 21st century.

"Man of Paper ," by João Almino, a diplomat and one of the most important writers in Brazilian literature. He is the author of the novels "Enigmas da Primavera" and "Entre facas, Algodão ," published by Record, and is his most allegorical book. Here, the author evokes Machado de Assis, reviving the narrator-character Counselor Aires and transporting him to the present day.

If in Machado de Assis's Esaú e Jacó , Counselor Aires is involved in a plot about two completely opposite brothers, who fight over the same woman and defend opposing political regimes (Monarchy and Republic), in this Man of Paper he takes center stage, transformed into a book, from which he manages to escape into the real world, ruled by ignorance and stupidity. The copy he holds belongs to the young diplomat Flor, a triplet of Hugo and Miguel, who, like Machado de Assis's twins, are in a perpetual political feud. Was Flor born to disrupt the symmetry? Or would she be an epicenter of balance in the dispute between the brothers?

The counselor faces social media and must adapt to the speed at which news spreads. Unlike the late 19th and early 20th centuries, each news item now creates millions and millions of "truths," the consequences of which are often irreparable.

On the book's blurb, Hélio Guimarães, a professor at USP, writes: "Moving between farce, parody, satire, and tragicomedy, João Almino masterfully strikes many comic notes. His humor dispels any suggestion that the past was much better than the present. Here, as in Machado, the conviction that jealousy, betrayal, fear, pride, and vanity may change direction, but maintain the freshness of the first head of lettuce our ancestors pulled from the earth, remains valid."

“João Almino masterfully plays many comic notes.” - Hélio Guimarães

“A lesson in literature: surprising and intelligent.” - Abel Barros Baptista