The Ten Best Nonfiction Books of 2024: Biography of a Year, a World, an Era

Nothing is further from reality than the images we form about a writer. We all mythologize the Josep Pla of the late days in Llofriu, with the ‘seny’ and the beret on, sitting near the fire, writing non-stop, always feeling cold and distilling his prose from an inkwell, a coffee pot and a bottle of whiskey. Today we have a much more complete and exact idea thanks to the ten years in which his biographer became the detective of ‘A Furtive Heart’ (Destino, 34.90 euros), the canonical biography of the Catalan writer, signed by the professor Xavier Pla.

It has not been easy to trace in such detail or put in order with such a commendable documentary display the life of the author of ‘The Gray Notebook’, which in this volume appears fixed in such a way that we can say that it is the definitive biography. Elusive in his activities, his travels and his loves, despite the fact that he kept everything, this book allows us to look at the roots hidden under the cliché of a writer almost always despised by nationalists, whose prose is an antidote for fanatics from then (it was uncomfortable for the Franco regime) and today (his prevention of what happened in the Republic is of undeniable lucidity), and whose European adventures only partially explain the character’s significance. His known loves, which permeate this great biography, provide the keys to the disenchanted ‘ars vivos’ plaiano, of his heart always, and his gaze still, that of a furtive observer.

They also live with the awareness that the protagonists of Jorge Freire’s book do not fit into their time: ‘The Strangers’ (Books of the Asteroid, 18.95 euros), a wonderful essay capable of portraying, through four biographies, the of Edith Wharton, José Bergamín, PG Wodehouse and Blasco Ibáñezcertain paradoxical spaces, out of the box, opened by intellectuals who are unexpected, but help define an era.

The presence of the book ‘‘Until the last breath’ (Tusquets, 21.90 euros), by Manuel Calderón, with his double biography, that of the police officer Francisco Anguas and his murderer Salvador Puig Antich —at the same time that of their surroundings—, which allow us to know in such a brilliant, rigorous and balanced way the shadows and complexity of Barcelona in the last throes of the Franco dictatorship.

Finally, ‘The Dawn Guard’ (Debate, 23.90 euros), by Maya Jasanoff, turns Joseph Conrad, whose centenary was celebrated in 2024, into an author of unexpected relevance, whose life embodies and explains the lights and above all the darkness of our modern global society. ABC Cultural dedicated a special issue to delve into all of this, which has remained one of the most relevant of the year.

This year was also Kafka’s centenary. And in perfect rhyme with its universe and our labyrinth is ‘The report’ (Anagrama, 18.90 euros), by Remedios Zafra, in which the philosopher takes us into the consequences of bureaucratization (filled today with virtual traps and machine voices online) of our life.

But perhaps it is the essays that look at history that intrigued us the most in 2024. Starting with ‘Welcome Mr. Chaplin’ (Taurus, 22.90 euros), by Juan Francisco Fuentes, which could be a family album by Spanish culture (although it would also apply to European culture) and how through cinema, above all, but also other cultural manifestations, American culture implemented a vernacular version of the wonderland of the American dream.

Among those that delve into key periods, the book stands out ‘Revolutionary spring’ (Gutenberg Galaxy, 44 euros), by Christopher Clark, centered on 1848, the year in which discontent over precariousness and famine was so deep (some see a reflection in today’s world) that a revolution almost spontaneously sparked, surprising even the revolutionaries, and put an end to the old regime.

The intellectual efforts of José Enrique Ruiz Doménec and his recent essay deserve a separate chapter. ‘The endless duel’ (Taurus, 24.90 euros), which is the story of almost two centuries of cultural wars in Europe. The title summarizes the struggle and also the regret for the end of a Western idea, not only in question today: it is the denunciation of a Europe that has renounced its most profound values ​​and exchanges them for nothing. The reflection is, as always in the author, challenging for the reader, and makes the incomprehensible world in which we find ourselves understandable.

Tomás Pérez Vejo focused on ‘The Mourning Nation’ (Presses of the University of Zaragoza, 26 euros), in the modern identity of MexicoI hear its faults, earthquakes and volcanoes. In a year in which Mexican politics is boiling, this essay provides the necessary keys to understand how pain and the difficult relationship with the Spanish motherland articulate being Mexican.

Conclude the list with ‘The Interpreter’ (Anagrama, 22.70 euros), by Richard Sennet, an attempt to unite theater and politics in a therapeutic way in a world where everything is acting. In a theater of the world that needs more than ever the reunion with those who are different in politics and imagination.

The list is random and its creation is based on votes that have left other equally interesting proposals at the door, perhaps more so in some cases, but it serves as an invitation to the freedom and non-conformity that always live in reading.