"A brilliant and penetrating analysis of Machado's Memorias Postumas de Bras Cubas. This is the kind of reading that transforms one's understanding of the novel. After reading Schwarz, it is impossible to see Machado in the same light as before. Exemplary of what literary analysis can and should be, this seminal study transcends its focus on Brazilian literature and becomes a model for literary critics. "- Randal Johnson, University of California, Los Angeles "A Master on the Periphery of Capitalism is the most intelligent, inventive, and thorough booklength analysis of Machado ever published. Indeed, it is a deliciously refined masterpiece of criticism."- Leslie Damasceno, Duke University