The Modern Novel

Biography

Alfonso Henriques Lima Barreto was born in 1881. His father was a typesetter and his mother a teacher. His father determined that his son should train as an engineer. However, before he graduated from school, his father went mad and Lima Barreto had to leave school to support his family. He started working as a minor civil servant in the Ministry of War but also started writing, publishing his first novel Recordações do escrivão Isaías Caminha in Lisbon in 1909. However, its bitter satire on Rio notables was not well received. He worked as a journalist for much of his life, publishing some of his works in the newspaper before they were published in book form. However, he turned to drink and became an alcoholic. He spent periods in an asylum but died in 1922 at the age of 41. His work was often vitriolic, attacking the society of the day, with his sad heroes unable to cope with the changing world around them.

Books about Lima Barreto

Luís Alberto deAbreu: Lima Barreto, ao terceiro dia
Francisco de Assis Barbosa, : Aldebará ou, A vida de Lima Barreto, 1881-1922

Other links

Lima Barreto
Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto
Afro-Brazilian Crusader: On Lima Barreto
Lima Barreto (in Portuguese)
Lima Barreto (in Portuguese)
Lima Barreto (in Portuguese)
Lima Barreto (in Portuguese)
Lima Barreto (in Portuguese)