Albert Cohen, a Bulgarian exile in Israel, returns to Bulgaria for a few days for a conference, and the encounter with his hometown and the people he hasn't seen for years reminds him of a world long gone. His most intense memory is of his grandfather, the unforgettable Abraham the Drunk--master tinsmith, genius storyteller, and witness to the end of an era--, whose figure will allow him to remember some of the most important episodes from his childhood. However, his reveries will be interrupted by some unavoidable events in the present: a dark attempt at land speculation, an encounter with a former lover, and the conflict in the Middle East. This new novel by Angel Wagenstein--author of "Isaac's Torah" and "Farewell, Shanghai"--is a no-holds-barred portrayal of contemporary Bulgaria and an ode to a rich past. "Albert Cohen, un bulgaro exiliado en Israel, regresa por unos dias a Bulgaria para un congreso, y el reencuentro con su ciudad natal y con la gente que lleva anos sin ver le hace recordar un mundo desaparecido. El recuerdo mas intenso es el de su abuelo, el inolvidable Abraham el Borrachon--maestro hojalatero, fabulador genial y testigo del final de una epoca--, cuya figura le permitira revivir algunos de los episodios mas importantes de su infancia. Sin embargo, su ensonacion se vera interrumpida por algunos ineludibles reclamos del presente: un oscuro intento de especulacion inmobiliaria, el encuentro con un antiguo amor y el conflicto de Oriente Proximo. Esta nueva novela de Angel Wagenstein--autor de "El Pentateuco de Isaac" y de "Adios, Shanghai"--es un retrato sin concesiones de la Bulgaria contemporanea y un canto a su riquisimo pasado."

Due to the political circumstances in Europe at the time, a Jewish tailor from Galizia named Isaac Jacob Blumenfeld, who is born as a subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ends up being Austrian, but not without first being a citizen of Poland, the USSR, and the Third Reich. Sheltered from the whims of history by his humor, Isaac discusses the time he spent with the imperial army and in different concentration camps with humor and irony, diluting the obvious tragic backdrop of his story and transforming it into an entertaining and lucid tale of the convulsions that shook Europe during the 20th century. "Debido a los avatares politicos acaecidos en la Europa de la epoca, un sastre judio de Galizia llamado Isaac Jacob Blumenfeld, que nace siendo subdito del Imperio Austrohungaro, termina siendo austriaco, no sin antes haber sido ciudadano de Polonia, la URSS y el Tercer Reich. Protegido de los caprichos de la historia por su humor, Isaac cuenta su paso por el ejercito imperial y distintos campos de concentracion con humor e ironia, diluyendo el evidente fondo tragico de su historia y convirtiendola en un relato divertido y lucido de las convulsiones que sacudieron Europa durante el siglo XX. "