Manual of Painting and Calligraphy was Jos Saramago's first novel. Written eight years before the critically acclaimed Baltasar and Blimunda, it is a story of self-discovery set against the background of the last years of Salazar's dictatorship. A struggling young artist, commissioned to paint a portrait of an influential industrialist, learns in the process about himself and the world around him. The brilliant juxtaposition of a passionate love story and the crisis of a nation foreshadows all of Saramago's major works. A must-have for any devotee of the great Portuguese Nobel laureate, Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is now available in the United States.
"Taut and compelling." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Beautifully realized, heartbreakingly honest." -- Providence Journal-Bulletin
"Almost impossible to put down." -- Austin American-Statesman
Manual of Painting and Calligraphy was Jos Saramago's first novel. Written eight years before the critically acclaimed Baltasar and Blimunda, it is a story of self-discovery set against the background of the last years of Salazar's dictatorship. A struggling young artist, commissioned to paint a portrait of an influential industrialist, learns in the process about himself and the world around him. The brilliant juxtaposition of a passionate love story and the crisis of a nation foreshadows all of Saramago's major works. A must-have for any devotee of the great Portuguese Nobel laureate, Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is now available in the United States.
"Taut and compelling." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Beautifully realized, heartbreakingly honest." -- Providence Journal-Bulletin
"Almost impossible to put down." -- Austin American-Statesman
Paperback
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