Sitting at his desk, Bernardo Soares imagined himself free forever of Rua dos Douradores, of his boss Vasques, of Moreira the book-keeper, of all the other employees, the errand boy, the post boy, even the cat. But if he left them all tomorrow and discarded the suit of clothes he wears, what else would he do? Because he would have to do something. And what suit would he wear? Because he would have to wear another suit.

A self-deprecating reflection on the sheer distance between the loftiness of his feelings and the humdrum reality of his life, The Book of Disquiet is a classic of existentialist literature.

With its astounding hardcover reviews Richard Zenith's new complete translation of THE BOOK OF DISQUIET has now taken on a similar iconic status to ULYSSES, THE TRIAL or IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME as one of the greatest but also strangest modernist texts. An assembly of sometimes linked fragments, it is a mesmerising, haunting 'novel' without parallel in any other culture.

"Readers with a particular interest in modernism will find this work indispensable."--Publishers Weekly

"Pessoa's amazing personality is as beguiling and mysterious as his unique poetic output."--William Boyd

A self-deprecating reflection on the sheer distance between the loftiness of feelings and the humdrum reality of life,The Book of Disquiet is a classic of existentialist literature.

Fernando Pessoa, one of the founders of modernism, was born in Lisbon in 1888. Most of Pessoa's writing was not published during his lifetime:The Book of Disquiet was first published in Portugal in 1982.

Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) - a poet who lived most his life in Lisbon, Portugal, and who died in obscurity there - has in recent years gained international recognition as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. Now Richard Zenith has collected in a single volume all the major poetry of "one of the most extraordinary poetic talents the century has produced" (Microsoft Network's Reading Forum). Fernando Pessoa was as much a creator of personas as he was of poetry, prose, and criticism. He wrote under numerous "heteronyms," literary alter egos with fully fleshed identities and writing styles, who supported and criticized each other's work in the margins of his drafts and in the literary journals of the time. From spare minimalism to a revolutionary exuberance that recalls Leaves of Grass, Pessoa's oeuvre was radically new and anticipated contemporary literary concerns to an unnerving degree. The first comprehensive edition of Pessoa's poetry in the English language, Fernando Pessoa & Co. is a work of extraordinary depth and poetic precision. "Zenith's selection of Pessoa is a beautiful one-volume course in the soul of the twentieth century." -- Booklist

The Washington Post Book World has written that Fernando Pessoa was "Portugal's greatest writer of the twentieth century [though] some critics would even leave off that last qualifying phrase" and "one of the most appealing European modernists, equal in command and range to his contemporaries Rilke and Mandelstam." The Selected Prose of Fernando Pessoa, a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001, spans playful philosophical inquiry, Platonic dialogue, and bitter intellectual scrapping between Pessoa and his many literary alter egos ("heteronyms"). The heteronyms launch movements and write manifestos, and one of them attempts to break up Pessoa's only known romantic relationship. Also included is a generous selection from Pessoa's masterpiece, The Book of Disquiet, freshly translated by Richard Zenith from newly discovered materials. The Selected Prose of Fernando Pessoa is an important record of a crucial part of the literary canon. "Zenith's selection is beautifully translated, compact while appropriately diverse." -- Benjamin Kunkel, Los Angeles Times "[Pessoa] is one of those writers as addictive, and endearing, as Borges and Calvino." -- Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World

This is the largest and richest volume of poetry by Pessoa available in English. It includes generous selections from the three poetic alter egos that the Portuguese writer dubbed "heteronyms" - Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis and Alvaro de Campos - and from the vast and varied work he wrote under his own name.

The writing of Fernando Pessoa reveals a mind shaken by intense inner suffering. In these poems he adopted four separate personae: Alberto Caeiro, Alvaro de Campos, Ricardo Reis and himself, using them to express 'great swarms of thought and feeling'. While each personae has its own poetic identity, together they convey a sense of ambivalence and consolidate a striving for completeness. Dramatic, lyrical, Christian, pagan, old and modern, Pessoa's poets and poetry contribute to the 'mysterious importance of existence'.

Original English Poems from Fernando Pessoa.

"The boy lay dead
On the low couch, on whose denuded whole,
To Hadrian's eyes, whose sorrow was a dread,
The shadowy light of Death's eclipse was shed."

O Banqueiro Anarquista é considerada uma das obras essenciais de Fernando Pessoa. Publicada pela primeira vez em 1922, é “um delicioso diálogo sobre a liberdade”, com uma visão irónica da sociedade: num restaurante, um banqueiro e um poeta conversam sobre a anarquia.

Alberto Caeiro da Silva é um dos heterónimos criados por Fernando Pessoa. É considerado o “Mestre Ingénuo” dos restantes heterónimos (Álvaro de Campos e Ricardo Reis) e do seu próprio autor.
Fortemente ligado à Natureza (a fazer lembrar Cesário Verde, muitas vezes citado), desprezando qualquer tipo de pensamento filosófico, Alberto Caeiro afirma que pensar obstrui a visão ("pensar é estar doente dos olhos"). Proclama-se assim um anti metafísico.
Alberto Caeiro apresenta-se como um simples "guardador de rebanhos", que só deseja ver de forma objetiva e natural. É um poeta de completa simplicidade, e considera que a sensação é a única realidade.
Poemas de Alberto Caeiro faz parte integrante da colecção Biblioteca Essencial da Literatura Portuguesa, da editora Atlântico Press, uma publishing company, no mercado editorial desde 1992.