The waves of the sea, the hardness of rolled tobacco; these are the kind of details that acquire an unusual form of grandeur in Pla s prose . This collection of his letters, translated into English for the first time, diligently chronicle the nuts and bolts of daily living in turn of the century Catalonia.This title is one of a number of Archipelago titles which draw attention to the literary landscape of Catalonia. Notably, Private Life, Josep Maria de Segarra s great novel, is forthcoming from Turnaround in August 2015.