We bring together four novels by Echenoz whose common thread is a journey through the turbulent and stimulating 20th century.

Four views on our world from real characters and events. The four novels – short, brilliant – by Jean Echenoz that this volume brings together have as their common thread the journey through the bloody, convulsive and stimulating 20th century, although from the very singular and inimitable perspective of the brilliant French writer.

Thus we have in Ravel a short and rather obsessive composer who boards an ocean liner heading to America to undertake a tour; In Running we have a Czech athlete, Emil Zátopek, with an awkward appearance, who runs and runs and runs in a Berlin stadium to cross the finish line first and at the same time escape from the clutches of the communist regime in his country, which will finish him off. ostracizing; In Lightning Bolts we have a misunderstood genius inspired by Nikola Tesla, capable of inventing almost everything, but unable to obtain the recognition he deserves in return. And finally, we have in 14 the war that, according to some historians, really started the 20th century.

"The most unmistakable voice of his generation... A consummate magician of the contemporary French novel" (The Washington Post).

«One of the best narrators among the “serious” novelists of his generation» (Context).

«One of the few magicians touched by the grace of contemporary literature» (Bookforum).

"There is a tenuous thread of perversity that connects Echenoz to that other master of perverse detail, Nabokov" (Los Angeles Times).

"Rarely has the complex craft of storytelling been so masterfully mastered" (The Times Literary Supplement).

«Literature is alive!... Works full of sophistication and surprises» (The New York Times Book Review).

«A writer at the peak of his talent... An impeccable style, overflowing with elegance» (Le Monde).

«A candid, meticulous, ironic realism... Rarely does one come across such well-constructed narratives» (Le Figaro).

«One of our great writers» (Pierre Vavasseur, Le Parisien).

«One of the most elegant writers of this era» (Miguel Mora, El País).