The Wisdom of José Saramago

In 1953, 31-year-old José Saramago, then an unknown author, submitted Skylight, a novel, to a Portuguese publishing house. (The novel appears in English translation this month for the first time. My review will appear on Bookreporter’s site soon.) He received no response. He was so distraught by the publisher’s dismissive attitude that he didn’t write again for 20 years.