This image is the cover for the book American in Barcelona

American in Barcelona

An inspirational novel of the real-life engineer whose ambitious project to build an electrical grid in Catalonia changed Barcelona forever Xavier Moret illuminates the story of the American engineer Frederick Stark Pearson, an entrepreneur with a global vision, whose innovative business ventures brought electricity to Catalonia. From his arrival in Barcelona in June 1911, Dr. Pearson played a key role in the industrialization of the city, building tram and train networks to benefit from this new form of energy. However, tragedy strikes when Dr. Pearson dies aboard the Lusitania, torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Suddenly, his ambitious project of urban and spatial planning is in jeopardy. Moret compellingly envisions these historic events and the daily life of the American and Spanish pioneers in the local villages and work camps—a world reminiscent of the Wild West. He interweaves this story with his account of his own passionate commitment to chronicling Dr. Pearson’s remarkable achievements, and how this process of research and discovery ultimately changed his life.

Xavier Moret

Xavier Moret (b. 1952), a Barcelona native, studied English philology and journalism at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, but has learned much more from traveling. He has been lucky enough to earn his living combining three of the things he enjoys most: reading, writing, and traveling. In his twenties, he translated Superman and Batman. In 1982, he published his first novel, L'americà que estimava Moby Dick (The American who loved Moby Dick). He won the Grandes Viajeros (Great Travelers) Award for his book Islandia, la isla secreta (Iceland, the secret island) in 2002. In 2004, he received the 23 Abril Award for his novel Doctor Pearson, and the following year won the Sent Soví Award for gastronomic literature for El Bulli desde dentro (Inside El Bulli). Moret is a journalist and travel writer for the Spanish newspapers El País and El Periódico.

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