Author, fine artist, and musician Ricardo Kort was born in Vienna, Austria in 1911. During WWII, his family was forced to flee to Bolivia.
In 1945, he emigrated to Venezuela, where he wrote the present book, and painted a monumental mural of the Twelve Tribes of Israel which can be seen in the main hall of the BÕnai Brith in Caracas, Venezuela.
In 1999, Kort again emigrated, this time to Guadalajara, Mexico, where he continued to create paintings and drawings and live peacefully until the age of ninety-six.
Yesterdays: The Extraordinary Art & Travels of Peter Kerr reflects in part the trials and dilemmas of Jews who were persecuted and displaced by the Nazis; but is also a brilliant Bildungsroman that illus-trates what it was like to come of age in Vienna, then one of the most cultured, celebrated cities in the world.
In this sense, KortÕs novel is autobiographical, but it is also a fine example of metafictionÑone that explores the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art.