From the Nobel Prize winning author--a novel that takes us into the last days of Salazar's dictatorship when a second-rate artist is commissioned by a wealthy client to paint a portrait and the political and intellectual struggles that ensue. Manual of Painting and Calligraphy was Jose 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