[Drugmachine]

What BB King has to do with Antonio Tabucchi?.
I came to my second venture into the Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi?s novels through the side door so to speak. I had read his Indian Nocturne some while ago, and was mostly distracted by an incredibly bad translation. It was disappointing, as I had been given to believe Tabucchi is Italy?s most respected living novelist. In my mostly unsystematic research for reviewing Nobel contenders, Tabucchi?s name kept appearing on lists. In keeping with Traces focus on things in the corner, the margins, of course his better known 1994 Pereira Declares and supposedly masterful short stories were passed over in favor of this 1996 New Directions published novel translated by J.C. Patrick (not the same translator as for Indian Nocturne). Many times recognized in European letters, Tabucchi must have at least a wall devoted to his considerable array of literary prizes. He is a part-time Professor of Portuguese at Siena University and spends the rest of his time with his Portugese wife in Lisbon.
Viscera (a.k.a. The Thrill is Gone)
Set in Oporto Portugal, the protagonist, Firmino is a young Lisbon tabloid journalist. He is sent out to look into a report that a Gypsy had found a headless corpse in his encampment. As we begin to follow Firmino in his investigations, we are introduced to the illustrious lawyer Don Fernando, who becomes a sort of mentor for Firmino, and the pension owner, Donna Rosa. The mystery, which I will effortlessly not reveal more of, unfolds equally effortlessly on Firmino?s part, as the puzzle is rather rapidly pieced together with the guidance of both the lawyer and Donna Rosa without as much of a hint of interference from higher powers. The question of influences, and the sociological impact of literature is a back story. Firmino also happens to be an aspiring literary critic, and he is repeatedly queried by the sagacious lawyer as to the methods he intends to use in his investigations, both in this case as well as the approach he will use in his aim of someday publishing a thesis on Post Realistic Portuguese Fiction. Firmino explains that the Marxist Critic Lukacs has been a great influence on his thinking. The learned Don Fernando reveals in one of several of his ?lectures? to Firmino that the Austrian legal philosopher Hans Kelson has been his obsession
The review in full.


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