The Man who Loved Dogs is a novel by Leonardo Padura and involves the complex political narratives that surround the assassination of Leon Trotsky by Ramon Mercader. The novel was a finalist for the Book of the Year Award in Spain. It was originally published in 2009 by Tusquets Editors, Spain. It has been translated into English by Anna Kushner. The english translation was published in the U.S. in 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Padura’s novel traces the saga of Trotsky’s 11-year flight from Stalin; the recruitment and creation of an assassin in the form of Catalan communist Ramón Mercader; and the marginalization of Iván Cárdenas Maturell, a Cuban novelist who learns early in his career the hazards of writing in his homeland.
Stalin wanted a savage, “spectacular” killing, not just a simple poisoning like the one he ordered for Trotsky’s son. Trotsky had miraculously survived the attack in 1940 led by the mad muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, but, on August 20, 1940, Mercader plunged an ice ax into the back of Trotsky’s head.[1] In Cuba Trotsky is officially vilified to this day for betraying the revolution.[2]
- ^ "Book World: 'The Man Who Loved Dogs' by Leonardo Padura". Washington Post.
- ^ Patenaude, Bertrand M. (7 February 2014). "Book Review: 'The Man Who Loved Dogs' by Leonardo Padura - 'The Obedient Assassin' by John P. Davidson" – via www.wsj.com.