<p>In this enchanting and evocative novel, Antonio Tabucchi takes thereader on a dream-like trip to Portugal, a country he is deeplyattached to. He spent many years there as director of the ItalianCultural Institute in Lisbon. He even wrote <em>Requiem</em> in Portuguese; it had to be translated into Italian for publication in his native Italy.</p><p><em>Requiem</em>'snarrator has an appointment to meet someone on a quay by the Tagus attwelve. But, it turns out, not twelve noon, twelve midnight, so he hasa long time to while away. As the day unfolds, he has many encounters—ayoung junky, a taxi driver who is not familiar with the streets,several waiters, a gypsy, a cemetery keeper, the mysterious Isabel, anaccordionist, in all almost two dozen people both real and illusionary.Finally he meets The Guest, the ghost of the long dead great poetFernando Pessoa. Part travelog, part autobiography, part fiction, andeven a bit of a cookbook, <em>Requiem</em> becomes an homage to acountry and its people, and a farewell to the past as the narrator laysclaim to a literary forebear who, like himself, is an evasive andmany-sided personality. </p>