by Pío Baroja

Pío Baroja y Nessi (1872-1956), considered by some the most influential Spanish novelist of the twentieth century, was born in the Basque region of northern Spain and raised largely in Madrid, Spain’s capital, where his family moved when he was seven and where he lived for most of his life. Baroja studied medicine, and worked briefly as a doctor before giving up this profession, first to run a bakery owned by his family and then to write. He published his first two books, a collection of short stories and a novel, La casa de Aizgorri (The House of Aizgorri) in 1900. A prolific writer, Baroja ultimately produced more than 100 books, including over 60 novels as well as volumes of memoirs and collections of short stories, essays, and poems. Among his best known works is a trilogy entitled La lucha por la vida...