THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST - Rare Fine Copy of The First American Edition/First Printing: Signed by Jose Saramago - SIGNED ON THE TITLE PAGE

Saramago, Jose (Translated by Giovanni Pontiero)

ISBN 10: 0151367000 ISBN 13: 9780151367009
Published by New York City, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1994, 1994
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1st Printing. Signed. 377 pages. Published in 1994. The author's third novel to be translated into English. Widely considered Jose Saramago's greatest novel. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jose Saramago's "O evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo" in a felicitous English translation. The most irreverent yet at the same time, also the most moving re-telling of the story of Jesus. Saramago's irony is deployed in a novel that amounts to a "re-write" of The Gospels, the latter being, in his view, invented works of fiction (they were all written hundreds of years after Jesus of Nazareth died). Saramago's novel provoked an outcry in Roman Catholic Portugal. It was debated in Parliament and withdrawn from consideration for the European Literature Prize. The controversy hurt Saramago deeply. He moved to the island of Lanzarote permanently, which explains why he was absent on the world stage at the peak of his fame. Saramago's Gospel is closely linked with all of his oeuvre, acutely so with his late, post-Nobel Prize work. Often described as a satirist, Saramago's work goes much deeper, and he is perhaps the greatest literary ironist since Franz Kafka. Saramago's novel is infinitely superior to say, Norman Mailer's "The Gospel According To The Son" (1999) partly because he writes as someone steeped in Catholic culture, and also because he is a much greater writer than Mailer could ever be. Saramago was an anomaly who came out of nowhere, seemingly born a genius. Every single page of every single book he has ever written makes the reader feel that he or she is in the hands of an unsurpassable Master. An absolute "must-have" title for Jose Saramago collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Jose Saramago. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great book. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) still available online and is in fine condition overall: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Among Nobel Laureates, Saramago's signature was the most difficult to get because he rarely left Lanzarote, the island he moved to at the height of his fame. Signed copies of his books remain under-priced as compared to those of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Cormac McCarthy. Saramago will be regarded by posterity as a greater writer than both of them, and there is no British or American novelist of the last fifty years, living or dead, who comes close to Saramago's achievement. A rare signed copy thus. Regarded by Harold Bloom as one of the two greatest novelists of our time (the other being Philip Roth), Jose Saramago will be read as probably the greatest European novelist of the last fifty years. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JOSE SARAMAGO TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0151367000. Seller Inventory # 18882

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Synopsis:

A controversial novel of the life of Jesus Christ portrays his family as complex as anyone's family and with a realism that is filled with visions, dreams, and an omen. 10,000 first printing.

Review: "Enough to assure [Saramago] a place in the universal library and in human memory". -- The Nation

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Bibliographic Details

Title: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST - Rare ...
Publisher: New York City, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1994
Publication Date: 1994
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
Signed: Signed by Author
Edition: 1st Edition.

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Saramago, Jose
Published by Harcourt, U.S.A., 1994
ISBN 10: 0151367000 ISBN 13: 9780151367009
Used Hardcover First Edition Signed

Seller: Dallas Surplus Stacks, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.

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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Fine Book & Jacket, no Flaws, Signed 1st ed 1st pt in protective cover. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 000984

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Saramago, Jose
Published by Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994
ISBN 10: 0151367000 ISBN 13: 9780151367009
Used Hardcover First Edition Signed

Seller: REVERE BOOKS, abaa/ilab & ioba, Fernandina Beach, FL, U.S.A.

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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First US edition, first prnt. Inscribed by Saramago to writer/bookseller Dan Pope on the half-title page. "Para Dan Pope cordialmente Jose Saramago Lanzarote Agosto 2000." (Saramago moved to Lanzarote after the publication of this book and the reception it had received in his native Portugal.) Additionally, Saramago's printed return address lable, cut from the mailer used to send the book, is laid-in. Dustjacket with touch of rubbing on the rear spine fold and topedge. Fine condition in a Near Fine dustjacket with an archival cover. Originally published as O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo in 1991. Inscribed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 100925

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