Antonio Tabucchi
Sostiene Pereira

August 1938, Salazar has already been in power for six years, and Portugal, allied with Germany and Italy, sends its troops to the Spanish front to support the Francoist troops. Thus, the country lives in a regime similar to that of Italy and Germany.

In Lisbon, Pereira works as the director of the cultural page of the "Lisboa," a passionate about French literature, and a Catholic in a strong mystical crisis caused by the belief that after death there is no resurrection of the flesh. The protagonist is a widower and has heart problems, he regularly eats omelettes and drinks liters and liters of lemonade without bothering in the slightest that they further harm his already unstable health.

Of course, in a dictatorship, censorship claims various victims and for this reason, our Pereira is careful not to get into trouble, unaware that very soon his mild and meaningless existence would change slowly but inexorably.

One fine day, he hires a recent graduate, Monteiro Rossi, on trial to write obituaries for still-living artists with the task of doing them for specific authors but, to Pereira's surprise, the said articles will be produced for pro-fascist artists like D'Annunzio and Marinetti with a tone not quite favored by the regime.

The conscience of our anti-hero undergoes a slow awakening caused by the realization of the misdeeds of the dictatorship, aided by the acquaintance made with Dr. Cardoso, a psychologist opposed to the regime, who will soon flee to France, then a symbol of intellectual freedom and the destination of the most important liberal artists.

Meanwhile, Pereira takes Monteiro Rossi into his own home, who is sought by the Political Police and needs a safe place to live, but the hiding place does not prove to be safe, so much so that he will be interrogated to death in Pereira's very home with the latter witnessing the event.

The reborn civic sense, the new consciousness, and the desire for redemption of the protagonist take over, so much so that he publishes in the newspaper, through a stratagem, a denunciation of the regime and the Political Police before also fleeing to France.

It is the redemption of an ordinary Don Quixote, a journey into a tormented conscience but not yet completely defeated, the revenge of a staggering loser against a history much bigger than himself but of which he feels a part. An invitation to us small Pereiras not to let our guard down, to be vigilant and critical with what surrounds us, not to let ourselves be overwhelmed without being able to say our part, letting ourselves be only carried by events!

We too are part of the history of the world in which we live and we must be participants, at least this is what Pereira maintains!