From the Shadows - Softcover

Millás, Juan José

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1942658664 ISBN 13: 9781942658665

Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press, 2019

Synopsis

"Part surreal comedy, part dark parable, Millás's wild work brings readers face to face with the mundane facets of middle-class suburban life. . . . A page-turner of the strangest order, Millás's debut stuns and entrances. It's impossible to put down." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[From the Shadows is] about alienation, loneliness, voyeurism, and the power of fantasy to transform claustrophobic, humdrum lives. Written by one of Spain's most original and important authors and set in contemporary Madrid . . . [it] pays tribute to a very Spanish tradition, embodied by, among others, surrealists like Luis Buñuel [whose] 1962 film, The Exterminating Angel, [is] another claustrophobic allegory that turns middle-class comfort into a desert island." --Public Books

"The narrative of Juan José Millás, our literary Buster Keaton, is inimitable and unique." --La Vanguardia

Laid off from his job, Damián Lobo obsessively imagines himself as a celebrity being interviewed on TV. After committing an act of petty theft at an antiques market, he finds himself trapped inside a wardrobe and delivered to the seemingly idyllic home of a husband, wife, and their internet-addicted teenage daughter. There, he sneaks from the shadows to serve as an invisible butler, becoming deeply and disastrously involved with his unknowing host family. Every thread of the plot is ingeniously tied together, creating a potent admixture of parable, love story, and thriller. Millás masterfully reveals the everyday as innately surreal as he renders the unbelievable tangible and the trivial fantastical, and full of dark humor.

Juan José Millás is the recipient of Spain's most prestigious literary prizes: the Premio Nadal, Premio Planeta, and Premio Nacional de Narrativa. A regular contributor to El País, Millás has also won many awards for his journalism. He is the author of several short story collections and works of nonfiction as well as over a dozen novels, including From the Shadows, the first of his novels to be published in North America. He lives in Madrid.

About this title

Review:

Publishers Weekly "Writers to Watch" selection

"Part surreal comedy, part dark parable, Millás's wild work brings readers face to face with the mundane facets of middle-class suburban life. . . . A page-turner of the strangest order, Millás's debut stuns and entrances. It's impossible to put down." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A compelling stew of comedy, philosophy, and even tragedy, From the Shadows maintains a light touch, even as sinister undertones bubble underneath." --Foreword Reviews

"Spectacularly bizarre. . . . A Kafkaesque story about transformation and our collective human desire to connect with one another." --Kirkus Reviews

"[From the Shadows is] about alienation, loneliness, voyeurism, and the power of fantasy to transform claustrophobic, humdrum lives. Written by one of Spain's most original and important authors and set in contemporary Madrid . . . [it] pays tribute to a very Spanish tradition, embodied by, among others, surrealists like Luis Buñuel [whose] 1962 film, The Exterminating Angel, [is] another claustrophobic allegory that turns middle-class comfort into a desert island." --Public Books

"The narrative of Juan José Millás, our literary Buster Keaton, is inimitable and unique." --La Vanguardia

"Millás's imaginary world is constructed with a playful attitude and an ever-present indignation, set on the boundary between reality and fiction . . . it is enhanced by his sudden shifts into the mysterious folds of quotidian life." --El Cultural

"Millás deftly executes the art of narration." --Revista de Libros

About the Author:

Juan José Millás is the recipient of Spain's most prestigious literary prizes: the Premio Nadal, Premio Planeta, and Premio Nacional de Narrativa. A regular contributor to El País, Millás has also won many awards for his journalism. He is the author of several short story collections and works of nonfiction as well as over a dozen novels, including From the Shadows, the first of his novels to be published in North America. He lives in Madrid.

Thomas Bunstead is a writer and translator of leading Spanish-language writers, including Eduardo Halfon, Agustín Fernández Mallo, Juan José Millás, and Juan Villoro. His co-translation of Enrique Vila-Matas's A Brief History of Portable Literature was a semifinalist for the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Translation Prize. He also writes for the Times Literary Supplement and Paris Review Daily and is an editor of the literary translation journal In Other Words. He lives in Lewes, England.

Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor, and translator with some fifty books to his name, including novels by José Eduardo Agualusa, Eduardo Halfon, and Juan José Millás. His translations from Portuguese, Spanish, and French include fiction from Europe, Africa, and the Americas and nonfiction by writers ranging from Portuguese Nobel laureate José Saramago to Brazilian footballer Pelé. He is also the editor of the new Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. He lives in Lewes, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1942658664
• ISBN 13: 9781942658665
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208