The Birthday Buyer

Resumen del libro

Hurbinek was born and died in Auschwitz. Nothing remains of him; he bears witness through these words of mine, wrote Primo Levi in The Truce. Deeply moved by the unknown story of that three-year-old boy, Adolfo García Ortega rescues his memory from oblivion by inventing his life the possible lives he might have lived had he not perished, a victim to mankind's most ignominious hour. Thus, by creating for him a life after death, the author not only pays homage to the dead but strives to redeem man's noblest side through the power of love and compassion, which no amount of torment or suffering can ever extinguish.

An extraordinary novel. Take my word for it, start reading it right away. Hugo García Saritzu, La Vanguardia

An essential, harrowing book. J. Ernesto Ayala-Dip, El País

Now and then, once every few years, one happens upon a book generally a novel that makes it possible to reconcile oneself with the whole of literature. Mario Wainstein, Aurora

This book, on its own, would be worthy of the Nobel Prize. Diego Medrano, Diario de Gijón

How moving this novel is. . . . How well written. Alfonso López Alfonso, Clarín

Biografía del autor

Adolfo García Ortega (Valladolid, España, 1958) es escritor, traductor y articulista. Ha sido editor en ElPaís-Aguilar y director de Seix Barral; actualmente es adjunto a la Dirección del Área Editorial del Grupo Planeta.<br> Ha escrito las novelas Mampaso, Café Hugo, Lobo, El comprador de aniversarios, Autómata, El mapa de la vida, Pasajero K, El evangelista (elegida mejor novela histórica de 2016), Una tumba en el aire, ganadora del Premio Málaga de Novela 2018, y, en 2021, La luz que cae.<br> Sus cuentos están recogidos en el volumen Verdaderas historias extraordinarias. En 2015 publicó su poesía completa reunida bajo el título de Animal impuro, a la que hay que añadir posteriormente los volúmenes Kapital y Milicia. Destacan sus ensayos Fantasmas del escritor, Abecedario de lector y El arte de editar libros. Ha sido galardonado con varios premios y sus obras están traducidas a distintas lenguas.