Josep Pla

Josep Pla had met Manolo Hugué in Barcelona in 1919, when the sculptor had just returned to Spain after the First World War. Almost a decade later, in 1927, he wrote his biography in ‘one of the most feverish concentrated efforts of my life’. Hand in hand with the artist, Pla sketches a memorable portrait of Hugué, following him through Barcelona, Paris and Ceret, narrating the thousand adversities he had to face in order to escape from misery. The lumpen and everyday life in Barcelona at the end of the 19th century, Parisian bohemia, the artistic circle of Ceret, and the sculptor's ethical and aesthetic ideas are all brought together in this biography with extraordinary vividness.

"Life of Manolo is one of the most urban, most personal, wisest and funniest books I have ever read. A book to reread, followed or at random by the page you open it to. A classic."Jaime Gil de Biedma

"Undoubtedly, Josep Pla's most famous book." Gabriel Ferrater

"One of the best books in Catalan literature." Carles Riba