A masterpiece of compression. A political history of 1930s Portugal, a love story between a man and his dead wife, a gloriously successful formal experiment, and an irresistible thriller - and it can be read with enormous pleasure in a single afternoon. -- Mohsin Hamid
Pereira Maintains is small only in size. Its themes are great ones - courage, betrayal, fidelity, love, corruption; and its treatment of them is subtle, skilful, and clear. It's so clear, in fact, that you can see a very long way down, into the heart of a flawed but valiant human being, into the sickness of a nation, into the depths of political evil. It's the most impressive novel I've read for years, and one of the very few that feels truly necessary. -- Philip Pullman
Close to being a perfect novel - brief, tragic, inspiring -- John Carey, Chairman of the International Man Booker 2002
Pereira is a marvelously complex creation. One of the most intriguing and appealing character studies in recent European fiction. * * Kirkus Reviews * *
Every word of Mohsin Hamid's introduction is true: it's a stunningly good novel, and it goes on getting better in one's head after one has stopped reading it - it works as an experience - something that has happened to one, which is of course, the proof of great writing. -- Diana Athill
It grips from start to finish....a riveting political allegory * * Financial Times * *
Tabucchi writes...with an agility of mind and an economy of narrative that pulls the reader along * * Observer * *
Political but gorgeously artful, sad and then laugh out loud funny, pacy as a thriller ....This book is perfectly executed * * Dazed and Confused * *
This novel...has been sensitively and intelligently translated revealing this understated masterpiece of love and courage. * * Good Book Guide * *
[A] succinct, deceptively low-key political thriller...it's brilliant and you'll go on thinking about the characters and the way it's written for weeks. -- Sue Arnold * * Guardian * *
Concise, intense and striking. * * Daily Telegraph * *
Seemingly plain at first, the story becomes gripping as soon as you realize that the beauty of Tabucchi's narrative lies in between the lines, making the novel a thought-provoking and delightful read. -- Maria-Christina Marchi * * Time Out * *
A powerfully concise story of heroism versus acquiescence which gains eloquence from its simplicity * * Sunday Telegraph * *
Tabucchi's book (widely interpreted as a critique of Berlusconi) niggles away at the ambiguous space between aggrieved resistance and passive inaction * * Guardian * *
In its quiet, brilliant way, this is a novel you will read carefully. It is subtle and powerful; it deserves to be a classic. * * Scotsman * *
A moving intellectual thriller * * London Magazine * *
subtle and powerful; it deserves to be a classic -- William Leith * * The Scotsman * *
gripping * * Baby & Me * *
A masterpiece . . . Romantic, devastating, thrilling and formally inventive -- Mohsin Hamid * * Esquire Magazine * *
At once a thrilling mystery, a literary inquiry, and a meditation on politics and fascism, this novel about an overweight journalist in 1930s Portugal amazed me with its compression and use of the testimonial form. Close to perfection. -- Mohsin Hamid * * The Week * *
