One of the most beloved writers of his generation, Antonio Tabucchi
was born in Pisa in 1943 and died in Lisbon in 2012. A master of
short fiction, he won the Prix Medicis Etranger for Indian
Nocturne, the Italian PEN Prize for Requiem- A Hallucination, the
Aristeion European Literature for Pereira Declares, and was named a
Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Together with his wife, Maria Jose de Lancastre, Tabucchi
translated much of the work of Fernando Pessoa into Italian.
Tabucchi's works include Little Misunderstandings of No Importance,
Letter from Casablanca, andThe Edge of the Horizon.
Tim Parks teaches literary translation at IULM University in Milan.
He is a literary critic and the author of An Italian Education, The
Server, Dreams of Rivers and Seas, and Teach Us to Sit Still. Twice
winner of the John Florio Prize for translation, Parks has
translated works by Alberto Moravia, Italo Calvino, Roberto
Calasso, Niccol Machiavelli, Fleur Jaeggy, and Antonio Tabucchi.
"What a strange and wonderful book this is! If, like me, you are
interested in shipwrecks, whales, the Azores and the unique way in
which only literature can bring a location to life, and if you like
the unclassifiable, small works by authors such as Michael Ondaatje
and Italo Calvino — then have I got the book for you ... Wildly
inventive." — Ethan Rutherford, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Tabucchi's prose creates a deep, near-profound and sometimes
heart-wrenching nostalgia and constantly evokes the pain of
recognizing the speed of life's passing which everyone knows but
few have the strength to accept ... Wonderfully thought-provoking
and beautiful. —Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered
Ruminative, elegiac and mordantly funny, Mr. Tabucchi¢s prose
conjures a state between waking and dreaming. —The New York
Times
There is in Tabucchi's stories the touch of the true magician, who
astonishes us by never trying too hard for his subtle, elusive, and
remarkable effects. —The San Francisco Examiner
A witty and subtle meditation on the limits of memory and
imagination. —Nick Hornby, Times Literary Supplement
Elegant, cosmopolitan, inventive, ambitious, and disquieting; his
writing is, paradoxically, sensual and economical. —Boston
Review
Meticulously crafted . . . marked by wit, emotion, memory, and lost
grandeur. —Publishers Weekly
"On a final note, I must add that this reviewer had the pleasure of
reading The Woman of Porto Pim at the seaside. If at all possible,
I recommend all others do the same. I imagine, however, that
Tabucchi’s prose, and Parks’s translation, would allow the sea to
come to you, wherever you may find yourself reading." — Monika
Seger, World Literature Today
Like good short fiction, the stories in this volume act in ways
that suggest a wider world outside the frame of the story.
—Sycamore Review
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