Abstract
Despite gaining respect in intellectual circles since the appearance of The Mulatto (1881), Aluísio Azevedo (1857-1913) only signed a contract with Garnier Bookstore after the publication of The Man (1887). It was thanks to the success of this book that Machado de Assis’ publishers, one of the most important at the times, bought the copyright of the author’s whole works of fiction and printed its 4th edition. The feat was the result of a strong advertising campaign put in motion by Aluísio Azevedo and his network of friends in the press. Focusing on sales, they relied on the licentious aspect of the work to publicize it. Rio de Janeiro was shocked to read the protagonist’s erotic fantasies, described to address the issue of female hysteria. Aluísio Azevedo was attacked by naturalism detractors, who accused him of writing “pornography” disguised as science. In this article, we’ll tell the story of The Man as an erotic best-seller.
Keywords:
Aluísio Azevedo; naturalism; O homem; pornography