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All the Names

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All the Names

Written by: Margaret Jull Costa - translator, José Saramago
Narrated by: Traber Burns
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About this listen

Senhor Jose is a low-grade clerk in the city's Central Registry, where the living and the dead share the same shelf space. A middle-aged bachelor, he has no interest in anything beyond the certificates of birth, marriage, divorce, and death that are his daily routine. But one day, when he comes across the records of an anonymous young woman, something happens to him. Obsessed, Senior Jose sets off to follow the thread that may lead him to the woman-but as he gets closer, he discovers more about her, and about himself, than he would ever have wished.

The loneliness of people's lives, the effects of chance, the discovery of love - all coalesce in this extraordinary novel that displays the power and art of Jose Saramago in brilliant form.

©1997 Jose Saramago (P)2011 Audible, Inc. Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Thriller & Suspense Fiction Comedy

What the critics say

"Alternately farcical, macabre, surreal and tragic, this mesmerizing narrative depicts the loneliness of individual lives and the universal need for human connection even as it illuminates the fine line between the living and the dead." (Publishers Weekly)
"This haunting, strangely moving novel is uplifting despite the tragic nature of the woman's life; Saramago's true theme here is how compassion ultimately rules human behavior." (Booklist)
All stars
Most Relevant
It’s so boring and I loved every minute. That makes no sense. Worth a listen. Close your eyes.

The most interesting boring book ever

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