Before starting his career as writer, the author was one of the guitarists of the Brazilian rock band "Os Tita s." The insomniacs referenced in the novel's title are all those in Rio de Janeiro who thought of a way to change the world. It begins with Samora, a rich, black boy, living in one of the city's exclusive districts. After having participated in a social forum that takes place in the south of Brazil, he decides to leave his comfortable apartment where he lives with his mother and stepfather, to go and see for himself how life is in the slums. At the same time, a young white woman, Sofia, also rich and living in Rio de Janeiro, follows Samora and decides to fight poverty and other miseries along with him. Among other characters in this dynamic novel is Mara Maluca, a trafficker and leader of a favela gang, who is sought by the police. Besides describing violence and internal disputes in the slums, the novel demonstrates how Samora's idealism influences others in the struggle against social inequality. He was instrumental in waking others to their surrounding reality turning them into the new insomniacs.