Memoirs of a Police Sergeant

Memoirs of a Police Sergeant (Portuguese: Memórias de um sargento de milícias) is a satirical novel written by the Brazilian author Manuel Antônio de Almeida. It was first published in 1852.

Memoirs of a Police Sergeant

1959 edition of Memoirs of a Police Sergeant
Author	Manuel Antônio de Almeida
Original title	Memórias de um sargento de milícias
Language	Portuguese
Genre	Satire
Set in	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Publication date	1852
Publication place	Brazil
Original text	Memórias de um sargento de milícias at Portuguese Wikisource

The book is full of picturesque descriptions of Rio de Janeiro's life in the early 19th century, including popular feasts and holidays. The book is considered to be an outstanding work in the Brazilian Literature, because of its almost grotesque humor against some Brazilian institutions, like the Army, the Church and is considered, besides a literary masterpiece, an important source of Brazilian history.

Plot

The novel is set at around 1808 (since the first line line is something like "It was in the Time of the King") and it tells the colourful story of a problem child (Leonardo), from when his parents first meet, until his childhood, in a hypocritical and corrupt society. Leonardo grows up into an amoral, reckless young man until he is arrested by the police and given the chance of becoming a police officer instead of serving his sentence.

Editions

An edition in Portuguese (New York, NY: Luso-Brazilian Books, 2005) has the ISBN 0-85051-504-1.

An English edition titled Memoirs of a militia sergeant: a novel (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) has the ISBN 0-19-511549-X.

External links

• Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias available at MetaLibri Digital Library (in Portuguese)