Fernando Pessoa was many writers in one. He attributed his prolific writings to a wide range of alternate selves, each of which had a distinct biography, ideology. and horoscope. When he died in 935, Pessoa left behind a trunk filled with unfinished and unpublished writings, among which were the remarkable pages that make up his posthumous masterpiece, The Book of Disquiet, an astonishing work that, in George Steiner's words, 'gives to Lisbon the haunting spell of Joyce's Dublin or Kafka's Prague.'

Published for the first time some fifty years after his death, this unique collection of short, aphoristic paragraphs comprises the 'autobiography' of Bernardo Soares, one of Pessoa's alternate selves. Part intimate diary, part prose poetry, part descriptive narrative, captivatingly translated by Richard Zenith, The Book of Disquiet is one of the greatest works of the twentieth century.

'There is a distinguished mind at work beneath the totally acceptable dullness of clerking. The mind is that of Pessoa. We must be given the chance to learn more about him.'—Anthony Burgess, Observer

Seated at his desk in the Lisbon's Rua dos Douradores, Bernardo Soares, an assistant book-keeper, writes his diary—a self-deprecating reflection on the sheer distance between the loftiness of his feelings and the humdrum reality of his everyday life.

'This is a prize-winning translation of a classic of existential literature—a book acknowledged by the critics as 'the most beautiful diary of the century.'

Fernando Pessoa grew up in Durban, South Africa, where his stepfather was Portuguese consul. He returned to Lisbon in 1905 and worked as a clerk until his death in 1935.

Fernando Pessoa is Portugal's most important contemporary poet. He wrote under several identities, which he called heteronyms: Albet Caeiro, Alvaro de Campos, Ricardo Reis, and Bernardo Soares. He wrote fine poetry under his own name as well, and each of his “voices” is completely different in subject, temperament, and style. This volume brings back into print the comprehensive collection of his work published by Ecco Press in 1986.