Saramago’s Latest

Jose Saramago’s latest novel, Essay on Lucidity, is now out in Portugal. The book is about a right-wing government’s reaction to an election in which 83 percent of voters cast a blank ballot.

Saramago’s Portuguese publishers, Caminho, said the book will have a first print run of 100 000 copies, a record for a Portuguese novel. First editions of Portuguese books usually total just 5000 copies but sales of Saramago’s works have soared both at home and abroad since he became the first Portuguese author to win a Nobel prize for literature in 1998.

The novel doesn’t appear to be slated for publication in the U.S. at the moment.