Signé ; José Saramago - Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia [i.e. Manual of Painting and Calligraphy] - 1993

José Saramago. Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia [i.e. Manual of Painting and Calligraphy]. Editorial Caminho: Lisbon, 1993. 4th edition. 20 x 14 cm. 311 pages. Paperback. Condition: Very good.

Signed by the author.

José de Sousa Saramago (1922–2010), a Portuguese journalist and writer, was an active member of the Portuguese Communist Party, took part in the political struggles following the 25 April Revolution, and was the author of a literary body of work spanning between poetry, chronicles, memoirs and fiction. He is regarded as the main figure for the international recognition of the Portuguese-language prose. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998. In 1995, he won the Camões Prize, the most important literary award in the Portuguese-speaking world. He is known for employing an oral style, reminiscent of traditional folk tales, in which the liveliness of communication takes precedence over the orthographic correctness of written language. These characteristics make Saramago’s style unique in contemporary literature, and he is regarded by many critics as a master of the Portuguese language.

"The last years of Salazar's dictatorship provide a backdrop for this novel. The story is told by H, a second-rate artist commissioned by a wealthy client to paint a family portrait. As he works, he reflects on his struggles to survive in a bourgeois world."