Beginning on the eve of the 2008 US presidential election, <em>The Notebook</em> evokes life in Saramago's beloved Lisbon, revisits conversations with friends, and offers meditations on the author's favorite writers. Precise observations and moments of arresting significance are rendered with pointillist detail, and together demonstrate an acute understanding of our times. Characteristically critical and uncompromising, Saramago dissects the financial crisis, deplores Israel's punishment of Gaza, and reflects on the rise of Barack Obama. <em>The Notebook</em> is a unique journey into the personal and political world of one of the greatest writers of our time.