I cannot now accurately call to mind what my suppositions were, or my conjectures. I remember distinctly however that they were sufficiently ridiculous, of the same kind as I have shown in others. Fantastic and extraordinary notions succeeded each other in my mind by a purely mechanical association of ideas. Everything was, at the same time, suggestive and unsatisfactory. Well considered everything contained a singularity (so will anything anywhere contain). But no one thing presented clearly, neatly, indubitably, the sign of its being the key to the problem, the hidden word of the enigma.
Herr Prosit, President of the Gastronomical Society in Berlin, has perhaps grown complacent with his elaborately planned banquets and artistically prepared meals. Noticeable lapsed into melancholy as his guests—including five young gastronomers with whom he has developed a bitter rivalry—discuss the decided lack of originality in cooking during a time of a general decline in the arts, Prosit suddenly comes to life, inviting those seated around him to a very original dinner, the likes of which they have never seen. He challenges them to uncover just what makes the dinner so special, a game that soon takes a mysterious and perverse turn.
Clearly under the influence of Edgar Allen Poe and the nascent field of degenerate psychology, "A Very Original Dinner" was written in English by Fernando Pessoa under his proto-heteronym Alexander Search in June of 1907. It was never published during his lifetime, and only came to light in 1978 when photocopies of the typescript were reproduced in Maria Leonor Machado de Sousa’s book Fernando Pessoa e a Literatura de Ficção. The version in this volume first appeared in A Very Original Book, a bi-lingual collection of Pessoa's writings as Search edited by Natalia Jerez Quintero. This is the story's first appearance in a trade volume in North America.
Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) is one of the towering figures of Modernism and 20th century Portuguese letters. He is best known today for Livro do Desassossego (The Book of Disquiet) and the poetry he wrote under the heteronyms Alberto Caeiro, Álvaro de Campos, and Ricardo Reis. He published mostly in magazines, with just one book, Mensagem, and two small pamphlets of English poetry available in print during his lifetime.
No. 39 in Empyrean Series
Sublunary Editions
Physical Info: 7x5x0.18 inches | 40 Pages | Paperback