The Speed of Light

by Javier Cercas

Translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean

The new novel from the bestselling author of Soldiers of Salamis uncovers the harrowing secrets at the centre of two men's intertwined lives
The young hero of The Speed of Light is an aspiring writer in provincial Spain in the 1980s, dreaming of burning success, searching for a real story to tell. Out of the blue he is offered the chance to work in a in a Midwestern university and soon he is in the United States, living a happy, carefree life, working and writing.
Little does he know that his burgeoning friendship with the Vietnam Vet Rodney Falk, a man of few friends and strange ways, will influence the course of his entire life, or that he will become obsessed with unravelling the mystery at the heart of Rodney’s life.
Why do people sometimes ridicule and sometimes fear Rodney? Why does he shun the world? Why does he accept and befriend the narrator? What really happened at My Khe?
When the young writer’s own life takes a terrible twist many years later, Rodney may be the only person in the world who can save him.
(From Publisher)

Javier Cercas was born in 1962. He is a novelist, short-story writer and essayist, whose books include El móvil (The Motive, 1987), and Relatos reales (True Tales, 2000). In the 1980s he taught for two years at the University of Illinois, and since 1989 has been a lecturer in Spanish Literature at the University of Gerona. He is a regular contributor to the Catalan edition of El Páis.

Since publication Soldados de Salamina has sold more than 500,000 copies in all editions in Spain, is being published in more than fifteen languages (it has already appeared to acclaim in France, Germany and Italy) and has received the following literary prizes: Premi Llibreter 2001 (the prestigious booksellers' award of Catalonia), Premi Ciutat de Barcelona, Premio de la Crítica de Chile, Premio Salambó, Premio Qué Leer, Premio Extremadura and Premio Grinzane-Cavour. It has also been filmed by David Trueba and is available in twelve languages.