Portuguese novelist, outspoken Communist and critic of globalization, and winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, José Saramago died today at the age of 87. While he didn't actually become a full-time writer until his 50s -- after a long and diverse string of jobs and careers -- his books have sold over two million copies. They include "Baltasar and Blimunda," his first major success; "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ," which featured a crucified Jesus apologizing to mankind for God's sins; and the novel "Blindness," which was adapted into a film by director Fernando Mireilles in 2008.
(Flickr/fjsaramago)
