O Alienista follows a famous psychiatrist obsessed with discovering the universal panacea to cure every kind of mental malady. In his missionary zeal, he consigns not just the mentally dysfunctional but also perfectly healthy and well adjusted ones to his newly opened asylum, since he believes that prevention is better than a cure. A revolt breaks out among the villagers. The good doctor now believes that “normalcy” is a malady and needs to be cured which takes the story on a bizarre turn.

O Alienista is a satire written by the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis. It first appeared in a Rio de Janiero newspaper in 1881-82 in serial form and was translated into English in 1963. It caught the public imagination with its brilliant film adaptation The Alienist which was presented on screen in 1973. It has also appeared in several anthologies of short stories by writers from all over the world.

O Alienista marks the debut of realism in novel-writing in Brazil. It also explores ideas of hum