Romualdas Granauskas was a star of Lithuanian literature, a master of prose, one of the most productive authors of his generation. Without the works of Granauskas it would be difficult to map out Lithuanian literature of the late 20th century. Granauskas’s texts look back at the archaic Lithuanian worldview, its relationship with the land, with its own language, mythology, and history. He painfully opens up relics of the soviet era, and shows us gaps left in the fates of men. It is often said that the writer was one of the last ambassadors of Žemaitija (Samogitia) to Vilnius. The people of Žemaitija have a way of thinking and speaking that is not rushed: this careful, thorough, considerate nature permeates his entire body of work. Granauskas is one of the bestselling authors of Lithuanian literature. He has received the Žemaitė, Juozas Paukštelis, Antanas Vaičiulaitis, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė, and Liudas Dovydėnas literary awards. In 1999 he earned the Lithuanian Republic Government Art Award, and in 2000 the National Culture and Art Award. In 2013 Lives of the Saints was acclaimed by literary scholars as the most creative book of the year.