The Diaries of Emilio Renzi: The Happy Years - Paperback

by Ricardo Piglia (Author), Robert Croll (Translator)

The second installment of Argentine literary giant Ricardo Piglia's acclaimed bibliophilic trilogy follows his alter ego, Emilio Renzi, as his literary career begins to take off in the tumultuous years 1968-1975--running a magazine, working as a publisher, and encountering the literary stars among whom he would soon take his place: Borges, Puig, Roa Bastos, Pi era.

"One writes," Ricardo Piglia asserts, only "in order to know literature." Spanning the years 1968 to 1975, The Diaries of Emilio Renzi: The Happy Years is a testament to Piglia's intimate, lifelong love affair with the written word. This second installment of the Argentinian master's diaries opens a window into a luminous literary community fertile with genius and ever-traipsing from bar to bar--as well as into a convulsing Argentina racked by the death of Per n, guerilla warfare, and a bloody military coup--and establishes itself as the definitive backbone of Piglia's monumental career.

Author Biography

Ricardo Piglia (Buenos Aires, 1940-2017), professor emeritus of Princeton University, is unanimously considered a classic of contemporary Spanish-language literature. He published five novels, including Artificial Respiration, The Absent City, and Target in the Night, as well as collections of stories and criticism. Among the numerous prizes he received were the Premio de la Crítica, Premio Rómulo Gallegos, Premio Bartolomé March, Premio Casa de las Américas, Premio José Donoso, and Premio Formentor de las Letras.

Robert Croll is a writer, translator, musician, and artist originally from Asheville, North Carolina. He first came to translation during his undergraduate studies at Amherst College, where he focused particularly on the short fiction of Julio Cortázar.