This book is nothing short of a canon of the best literature of our time, through the voices of its creators. Xavi Ayén, one of the greatest international journalists dedicated to literature, has chosen eighty of the foremost authors in the globe, seventeen of which are Nobel Price winners.
Ayén discusses and summarizes their best titles in what constitutes a veritable guide for readers. At the same time, however, he delves into the personal life of the authors, authors whom he visited in his travels to the most remote locations in the planet, and who, as if seduced by his whispering voice, allowed him to enter their offices, their kitchens and their most private rooms, and disclosed to him a treasure trove of secrets of their trade, their lives and their convictions.
About the Author: Xavi Ayén (Barcelona, 1969) is one of the foremost literary journalists of the country. He has been working for La Vanguardia since the ‘90s, when he headed the youth supplement VANG. In the year 2000, he went on to the cultural section of the newspaper, where he devoted himself to the world of literature and the book. He collaborated with Carles Sentís in writing Memorias de un espectador (The Memoirs of an Spectator, 2006), and with the photographer Kim Manresa coauthored Rebeldía de Nobel: conversaciones con 16 premios Nobel de literatura (A Nobel Rebellion: Conversations with 16 Nobel Prices of Literature, 2009). In 2014, he was awarded the Gaziel Price of biography and memoir for Aquellos años del boom (The Years of the Boom, 2014), an extensive investigation about that group of Latin American writers that, led by Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, and very closely linked to Barcelona, revolutionized the literature of the 20th century –a book that has already become a hallmark study of that era.
Read the whole article: LA VANGUARDIA
