Early asylums: Manuel Podesta, Horacio Quiroga, and Roberto Arlt -- The asylum in the works of Julio Cortazar and Adolfo Bioy Casares -- The schizophrenic machine in Ricardo Piglia's Asylum -- Luisa Valenzuela's Passage through the asylum -- Juan Jose Saer's Committed detective -- The Asylum as Juan Jose Saer's Argentine founding myth -- The poet as patient: the literary life of Jacobo Fijman.