The Polish Boxer

Eduardo Halfon's The Polish Boxer is the sparkling English debut from one of Latin America's most exciting new voices.

Blurring the boundary between fiction and memoir, the tales within all reach for the beautiful and fleeting, whether through humour, music, poetry, or unspoken words. Throughout his encounters with fascinating collection of characters, the narrator – a Guatemalan literature professor and writer named Eduardo Halfon – pursues his most enigmatic subject: himself.

Translated from the Spanish by Daniel Hahn, Ollie Brock, Lisa Dillman, Thomas Bunstead and Anne McLean, Eduardo Halfon's The Polish Boxer is published by Pushkin Press.

Eduardo Halfon was born in Guatemala and now lives in Nebraska. He has published ten works of fiction in Spanish and been recognized as one of the finest Latin American writers currently working. The Polish Boxer is his first book to be published in English. He recently received a Guggenheim Fellowship to continue working on his grandfather's story.

'The writing is tight and lean in these stories and there are exquisite moments (…) Falling somewhere between the novels of Roberto Bolano, WG Sebald and Junot Diaz, The Polish Boxer is erratic, unusual and invigorating – and a book that should deservedly usher in further translations of his work.' Stuart Evers, – Daily Telegraph

'It's the most memorable new novel I have read all year – the voice pitch-perfect, the imagery indelible. What a wonderful writer' – Norman Lebrecht

'Halfon's English language debut is a glorious new addition to those decidedly non-fiction-ish works of fiction that keep getting us all worked-up these days… the result is a brave and touching and dead stylish examination of the nature of fiction, truth and lies nowadays..'– Dazed and Confused

'[Halfon] willfully and delightfully blurs the boundaries among novel, memoir and meditation… the power of The Polish Boxer is that it is always rooted in the personal. It is deeply accessible, deeply moving'– LA Times

It is not often that one encounters such a mix of personal engagement and literary passion, of pain and tenderness'– Andrés Neuman, author of Traveller of the Century

'We cannot resist following the author/narrator by thinking of possible ways of deceiving him in return in a fascinating thriller. This is a stimulating and inspiring read.'– Emilia Ippolito, Independent

'The Polish boxer? There may never have been one. Yet this in no way diminishes the pleasure Halfon s myriad stories afford.'-New York Times

Listed Book of the Year 2012 by LA Times

Eduardo Halfon was born in Guatemala and now lives in Nebraska. He has published ten works of fiction in Spanish and been recognized as one of the finest Latin American writers currently working. The Polish Boxer is his first book to be published in English. He recently received a Guggenheim Fellowship to continue working on his grandfather's story.