Buscando a Bob (Espacio Abierto/ Open Space)

by Jordi Sierra i Fabra

Héctor se escapa de su casa en Vigo. Su Barcelona. Pero este viaje tiene un doble sentido. Por un lado, perseguir un sueño, ver la actuación de su ídolo, Bob Dylan. Por otro, la búsqueda de sí mismo, averiguar la razón de estar vivo, porque Héctor ha descubierto el secreto de su existencia, y a raíz de ello ha de plantearse qué es y quién es. Pronto veremos que el viaje es la iniciación que todos necesitamos para descubrirnos, que Dylan no es más que una excusa, y que el verdadero significado de su acción se esconde en un rincón de su alma. "Buscando a Bob" habla, por encima de cualquier otra cosa, de la libertad, la búsqueda y la paz que cada cual ha de hallar en sí mismo para seguir luchando.

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

1947
—Born in Barcelona, July 26th.
1955
—Serious accident. First literary incursions.
1959
—First full-length novel, 500 pages. Firm intention to become a writer.
1964
—Graduates from high school. Attends technical school at night and works during the day for a construction company.
1968
—First professional attempts in the musical field. Founder of and collaborator in El Gran Musical radio programme (Cadena SER, Madrid). Additional collaborations with Radio Barcelona.
—Writes articles and collaborations for La Prensa in Barcelona and for Nuevo Diario in Madrid.
1969
—Correspondent for El Gran Musical in Barcelona.
1970
—Quits job and studies to work full-time as a music critic. Manages the weekly magazine Disco Express.
—Starts travelling all over the world with top musicians.
1972
—First book published: 1962-72 Historia de la música pop (1962-72 A history of pop music), the first work in its genre published in Spain and a best-seller.
—Works as an editorial adviser, collaborating, writing and founding several music magazines, such as Top Magazine and Extra.
1973
—Founds and features in Popular 1, a pioneer monthly magazine about rock.
1974
—Becomes executive manager of Popular 1.
—Finalist to the Ciudad de Murcia Literature Prize.
—Hosts the Semanario Informativo de la Música Pop (Pop Music Weekly News), a radio programme to be aired for four years on Barcelona’s Radio Peninsular.
1975
—Villa de Bilbao Novel Prize.
1976
—Resigns as executive manager of Popular 1 to devote himself to literature and travelling.
—Beginning of the musical anthology collection (biographies and history) Música de Nuestro Tiempo (Music of Our Time). Writes and publishes 24 books in the following years.
1977
—Co-founder of Super-Pop magazine, on young people’s music. Number one in Spain in its category after only a few months in print.
1978
—Finalist to the Planeta Novel Prize.
—Resigns as manager of Disco Express after 9 years.
1979
—Ateneo de Sevilla Novel Prize.
1981
—Gran Angular Young People’s Literature Prize.
—Begins publishing Historia de la música rock (A history of rock music) in 100 instalments (6 volumes) over 2 years.
1982
—First lecture circuits for primary and secondary schools around Spain, prompted by the boom in children and young people’s literature. Continues activities in schools to this day, giving more than 100 lectures a year.
1983
—Wins Gran Angular Youth Literature Prize for the second time.
1985
—Birth of the detective character Daniel Ross.
1987
—Author of the radio serial Ya es de oro (Gold Already) for Cadena SER.
1988
—Births of the literary characters Zuk-1 and Sam Numit.
—El joven Lennon (Young Lennon) remains on the young adult fiction best-seller list for 11 months.
—First books translated into Italian, German, French, Greek, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Slovenian, Dutch, English, Japanese, etc. (still translated to this day).
1989
—Birth of Victor, another literary character.
—First Daniel Ross film on TV, La sombra del delator (The shadow of the informer), aired on March 1994 with Mario Gas and Manuel Aleixandre in the leading roles.
1990
—Vaixell de Vapor Children’s Literature Prize.
—Timun Mas begins publishing Sam Numit. A total of 6 books in 2 years.
—Designs a trivia game on rock music.
1991
—Wins the Gran Angular Young People’s Literature Prize for the third time in 10 years.
1992
—Wins the CCEI 1991 Best Children’s Book Prize.
—Diccionario de los Beatles (A Beatles Dictionary), first book in the world published under this concept and title.
1993
—Publishes the encyclopaedia Los grandes del rock de la A a la Z (Rock legends from A to Z) in Italy, titled Los mitos del rock en vivo (Live rock legends), 100 instalments, 5 volumes.

Reviews

[Sal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una lectura que disfruté mucho, especialmente siendo fan de la música y de los artistas que dejan huella. La historia de Héctor me resultó cercana y emotiva; pude entender sus decisiones, su búsqueda y la forma en que la música influye en su vida. Sierra i Fabra combina sensibilidad, reflexión y ritmo narrativo en una novela que se lee rápido, pero deja pensando. Ideal para quienes aman las historias con fondo musical y emocional.

[XandreRL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una de las mejores novelas de corte juvenil y musical de Sierra i Fabra. Tres estrellas y media merecería. Un Road Trip a la española que entretiene y emociona. Personajes bien construidos y una trama, aunque obvia, nada condescendiente.