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In Brazil, where the process of urbanization was fast and chaotic, violence and the fragmentation of city life are important themes in fiction writing. This article, however, analyzes how two influential contemporary novels, Relato de um certo Oriente (1989), by Milton Hatoum, and Passageiro do fim do dia (2010), by Rubens Figueiredo, go beyond simply describing dystopic cities, suggesting instead a resignification and reinvention of the meaning of the city, even sparking re-enchantment with urban life.