Author Juan Goytisolo, "scourge of racism, sexism and Spanish obscurantism, and defender of Muslim culture" and "one of Europe's most erudite and brilliant novelists," died June 4, the Guardian reported. He was 86. Goytisolo published 19 novels, two books of stories, five travel books and several essay collections and "was considered one of Spain's finest writers, though he fled the country in 1956, stifled by family and the Franco dictatorship, and never returned."
His most popular titles are two volumes of autobiography, Coto Vedado (Forbidden Territory) and En los Reinos de Taifa (Realms of Strife). Other books include Marks of Identity; Count Julian; Juan the Landless; Exiled from Almost Everywhere; The Marx Family Saga; State of Siege; and A Cock-Eyed Comedy.
"Prizes came late: he was unbeloved by the establishment he flayed," the Guardian noted. In 2008, Goytisolo was awarded Spain's national prize for literature and in 2014 the Miguel de Cervantes Prize.