Lima Barreto is one of the most commented Brazilian authors. And practically everything that is said about his work is false, or at least we have a radically different view of it when we simply read it, without the intermediaries. To say so would seem idle, were there not so many authors who survive on a fabricated image. With regard to Lima Barreto’s work, the alleged virtues are all designed to fit it into a simulated worldview; the defects serve no purpose other than to hide what is significant in it. Even his biography is falsified, which leaves no doubt as to the authenticity of his literary motivation, despite what else can be said. In the end, what needs to be done is to analyze what is sincere in his work; and when we do that, the conclusion is only one: Lima Barreto honors his profession as a writer.