The Nubian Prince - Hardcover

Bonilla, Juan; Allen, Esther

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805077812 ISBN 13: 9780805077810

Publisher: Metropolitan Books, 2006

Synopsis

A cutting, comic odyssey of a hapless hero ensnared by globalization, humanitarian aid, and the international sex trade, from an award-winning young Spanish writer

To save lives and get handsomely paid for it—what job could be more rewarding? Moises Froissard has found the career opportunity of his dreams. After a start as a conventional bleeding heart with an idealistic aid group, he quickly wises up to the harsh reality of a world in which human life is just another product in a competitive marketplace. Now he travels the globe on the trail of illegal immigrants, refugees, and other ordinary souls brought low by war, natural disaster, or economic collapse. Scouting the slums and gutters of the world, Moises’s task is to unearth nature’s most beautiful men, women, and children and save them—for Club Olympus, a top-price international sex club.

Then Moises receives his toughest assignment yet: to find a “Nubian prince,” an African illegal caught fleetingly in the pages of a glossy magazine. The man is so painfully desirable that Club Olympus will sacrifice anything to have him—even Moises himself. Our narrator begins the chase, dazed, prevaricating, self-obsessed, funny, a little cruel, a little sentimental.

The Nubian Prince takes place in a pitiless world where the have-nots will do anything to become haves, while the privileged don’t know what to live for. Hilarious, moving, sexually explosive, and deeply disturbing, this bestselling Spanish novel introduces a new European star.

About this title

Review

"One of Spain's top ten writers . . . funny and ferocious, Juan Bonilla is the best evidence that there's nothing incompatible about profundity and humor." --El Mundo

"A skillful treatment of its unusual and tricky subject." --Kirkus Reviews

"Bonilla does a wonderful job of taking a character the reader could and maybe should easily hate and turning him into a somewhat likeable (if still disgusting) narcissist." --Library Journal

About the Author

Juan Bonilla was born in Jerez, Spain, in 1966 and is a columnist for El Mundo, the Spanish daily newspaper. He is the author of three novels, four short-story collections, and a children’s book. He was awarded the prestigious Biblioteca Breve Prize for The Nubian Prince. He currently teaches Spanish at Harvard University and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Metropolitan Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0805077812
• ISBN 13: 9780805077810
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 258