The surfers

2001.

Now available in print, this project marks a new chapter in Portuguese literature. This interactive book began on 4 June on the Clix portal. Until 31 August, Rui Zink published a chapter twice a week. At the end of each chapter, e-readers could suggest their own alternatives for the story to continue. Rui Zink left some doors open, offering different ways the story could unfold, but, as he himself says (JL, 28.11.01), “sometimes the e-readers would turn the story upside down. There was a certain sadistic pleasure in watching me get my boot kicked.”

The book is now available, and Zink says the result “was magnificent in every respect.” The illustrations, including the cover image, which depicts a hand rescuing a CD-ROM from the ocean (a tribute to “The Lusiads”), are by Manuel João Ramos.

Rui Zink, born in Lisbon in 1961, is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Portuguese literature. A writer, teacher, and intellectual provocateur, he has created a body of work marked by irony, social criticism, and a rare ability to transform everyday life into revealing absurdity.

In books such as O Destino Turístico, A Instalação do medo, and Hotel Lusitano, he explores the tension between fantasy and reality: humour as a sharp form of thinking.