Photo of part of the page of a book. Visible text as follows: of seeming original. Américo was part of that group of writers quite capable of affirming, with tears in their eyes, their total dedication to literature - "if I don't write, I waste away," or "oh, writing for me is like breathing" - despite the fact, unfortunately, that they have nothing to say. Having conquered the final page, I don't think thered be many readers who could summarize the plot. I'm not sure it even had a plot. Still, Américo pretended to believe me. He clapped me on the back with the manly delight of somebody who has run into an old drinking buddy from his wild youth, and gave me a big, magnanimous smile: "What about you? Have you written much?"
Cover of the short fiction collection A Practical Guide to Levitation by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn. There is a black and white etching of a forest on the cover. It is laminated because it is a discarded library book.
“Américo was part of that group of writers quite capable of affirming, with tears in their eyes, their total dedication to literature - "if I don't write, I waste away," or "oh, writing for me is like breathing" - despite the fact, unfortunately, that they have nothing to say.” José Eduardo Agualusa
