Eduardo Mendoza

Eduardo Mendoza is a Spanish novelist born in 1943 in Barcelona. He is one of the most beloved and respected Spanish novelists of his generation, known for combining literary sophistication with genuine narrative pleasure and wit. His debut novel La verdad sobre el caso Savolta (The Truth About the Savolta Case, 1975) is considered a landmark of post-Franco Spanish literature. Mendoza is the author of more than twenty novels spanning literary fiction, comedy, and historical fiction. His Barcelona trilogy — La ciudad de los prodigios (City of Marvels, 1986), El año del diluvio (1992), and Una comedia ligera (1996) — established him as the pre-eminent chronicler of his city's history and contradictions. His comic novels featuring an unnamed detective in a Barcelona psychiatric institution are among the funniest books in Spanish literature. He received the Premio Cervantes in 2016, recognizing a career of extraordinary range and vitality. His work consistently demonstrates the possibility of combining intellectual rigor with popular appeal, and he has been one of the models for younger Spanish writers who aspire to write serious novels that are also fun to read. Mendoza continues to publish new novels and is a beloved figure in Spanish literary culture, known for his modesty, wit, and enduring creative energy.