The Nation
“Beautifully translated...perhaps his most accessible work to date.”
Boston Review
“Elegant, cosmopolitan, inventive and disquieting; his writing is, paradoxically, sensuous and economical.”
Publishers Marketplace
- Robert Gray
“This imagined world is created with elegance and complexity.”
Times Literary Supplement
- Amit Chaudhuri
“[Tabucchi's books are] economical surreal-comic novellas. There's a cosmopolitan eeriness here.”
Robert Gray - Publishers Marketplace
“This imagined world is created with elegance and complexity.”
Amit Chaudhuri - Times Literary Supplement
“[Tabucchi's books are] economical surreal-comic novellas. There's a cosmopolitan eeriness here.”
Nation
Beautifully translated...perhaps his most accessible work to date.
Boston Review
Elegant,cosmopolitan,inventive and disquieting; his writing is,paradoxically,sensuous and economical.
Publishers Weekly
- Publisher's Weekly
On a sweltering Sunday in July, an Italian writer awaits a midnight rendezvous on a Lisbon quay with the spirit of a dead poet. The nameless narrator of this surreal dreamscape, who anxiously anticipates the appearance of his deceased friend and literary forebear, is Tabucchi himself, and the poet, though never named, is probably Portuguese modernist Fernando Pessoa, whose works Tabucchi, a champion of Portuguese literature, has translated. Chance encounters, ambivalent symbols, black humor and nonrational events pervade the narrative as Tabucchi's alter-ego meets his father as a young sailor; the ghost of Isabel, a former lover who committed suicide; Tadeus, who may have been the father of the child Isabel was carrying; and other colorful figures, alive and dead. Finally, Tabucchi meets his revered poet friend to discuss Kafka, postmodernism and the future of literature. Winner of the 1991 Italian PEN Prize, this playful bagatelle, translated from the original Portuguese, is partly an homage to Portuguese culture, partly a mellow autobiographical fantasy. (May)
Library Journal
The Mass celebrated for the repose of the souls of the dead presents an apt title for this novel by Italian author Tabucchi (The Edge of the Horizon, New Directions, 1990). The book is set in Portugal, where an unnamed narrator awaits a midnight appointment with a dead poet. In the heat of a July day the narrator wanders, killing time and encountering many people-some living, some dead-with whom he spends time walking, sharing philosophies, and admiring the sights of Lisbon. While selling him genuine LaCoste shirts with self-adhesive crocodiles, a gypsy diagnoses his problem: ``You can't live in two worlds at once, in the world of reality and the world of dreams, that kind of thing leads to hallucinations.'' Still, at midnight he keeps his appointment and dines with the poet (probably Fernando Pessoa) in an appropriately postmodern restaurant. After a discussion of Futurism (``vulgar''), the purpose of literature, and nouvelle cuisine, the dead poet disappears into the night from whence he came, in effect handing over the literary baton to the narrator. This erudite and engaging novel won the 1991 Italian PEN Prize. Highly recommended for large literary collections and all academic libraries.-Peggie Partello, Keene State Coll., N.H.
Library Journal
In this wonderful, enchanting tribute to the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, the narrator travels to Lisbon for a midnight meeting at the Tagus quay with the distinguished (and deceased) poet, whom he idolizes. During the course of the day, he meets a young drug addict who asks for money, a taxi driver who does not know his way, a gypsy, a cemetery worker, and others, real and imaginary, who add to the dreamlike atmosphere of his quest. Along the way, the narrator drinks a newly created cocktail at the Museum of Ancient Art and has a few interesting meals, the recipes to which are included in an appendix. Aptly subtitled, this book brilliantly creates a story that, like a delicious cocktail, most readers will finish in one gulp and will return to savor. Ten other novels by Italian author Tabucchi have been translated into English (e.g., The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro). Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.-Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
