My books are about losers, about people who've lost their way and are engaged in a search.

The President of Portugal appointed him the title Do Infante Dom Henrique in 1989 and that same year the French government named him a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. His first important novel Indian Nocturne was publiAntonio Tabucchid in 1984 and became the basis of a 1989 a film directed by Alain Corneau. Poetiche a posteriori (2003) ISBN 88-07-42098-8
Tristano muore.

In later life he was mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature a feat he never achieved. He was so charmed that back in Italy he attended a course of Portuguese language for a better comprehension of the poet.