Book Description
Building on the wonderful Fernando Pessoa & Co.: Selected Poems, acclaimed by Booklist as "a beautiful one-volume course in the soul of the twentieth century," preeminent translator Richard Zenith now delivers a superbly edited and translated selection from the prose work of a truly unique figure of early modernism. Though known primarily as a poet, Fernando Pessoa wrote prose widely, in several languages and in every genre -- fiction, drama, letters, and essays. Drawing from the huge body of work that Pessoa left behind, Richard Zenith has produced a volume that is full of delights. Pessoa and his many literary alter egos, or "heteronyms," experiment with the Surrealists' automatic writing and invent the movement "Sensationism" (whose adherents were all heteronyms). There are appreciations of Shakespeare, Dickens, Wilde, and Joyce, critical essays in which one heteronym derides the work of another, and a love letter by Pessoa's only known female heteronym. There is a selection from Pessoa's best-known work, The Book of Disquiet, retranslated from newly discovered materials. Like Fernando Pessoa & Co., Selected Prose is an important monument to one of the greatest exponents of modernism, a forgotten but crucial part of the literary canon.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Building on the wonderful Fernando Pessoa & Co.: Selected Poems, which was acclaimed by Booklist as "a beautiful one-volume course in the soul of the twentieth century," preeminent translator Richard Zenith has now edited and translated selections from Pessoa's prose. The Selected Prose of Fernando Pessoa offers a second sparkling opportunity to rediscover a forgotten master, a truly unique figure of early modernism.

Though known primarily as a poet, Fernando Pessoa wrote prose widely, in several languages and in every genre -- the novel, short stories, letters, and essays. Drawing from the huge body of work that Pessoa left behind, The Selected Prose of Fernando Pessoa is further testimony from a writer whose worst enemy was his own brilliance. These pieces span playful intellectual inquiry, Platonic dialogue, and bitter intellectual scrapping between Pessoa and his many literary alter egos ("heteronyms"). Pessoa experiments with the surrealist technique of automatic writing and toys with the occult. The heteronyms launch movements and write manifestos, and one of them attempts to break up Pessoa's only known romantic relationship. There are appreciations of Shakespeare, Dickens, Wilde, and Joyce, critical essays in which one heteronym derides the work of another, and a love letter by Pessoa's only known female heteronym. Also included is a generous selection from Pessoa's masterpiece The Book of Disquiet, freshly translated by Richard Zenith from newly discovered materials.