Jeremías Gamboa

A student arrives at a university in Colorado, United States, in search of the American Dream in its academic form. The promise of the campus as a sanctuary where the problems of the West—origin, race, class—have been resolved collapses under the weight of nighttime reality: students wander the outskirts of the city, in search of everything daylight denies them—light, companionship, tenderness, certainty.

The protagonist's gaze explores the stories that interweave over the course of an endless night: the obsession with South America as a romantic, sexual, and political destination; parallel and toxic relationships; the urge to erase one's identity in order to create a new one; literature as refuge; and the future, appearing as a darkness barely lit by a few distant, indifferent stars.

“This is a perfectly constructed story, condensed into a single night that says it all and sums it all up. A love story with a beautiful ending, a disquieting beginning, and an impeccable narrative technique maintained confidently from beginning to end.” Héctor Abad Faciolince

“A writer perfectly in control of his expressive means, who knows how to focus on what truly matters: telling a well-told story.”Mario Vargas Llosa

“In the dark night of the soul, there must be light. Gamboa finds it through rhythm and language, complexity and grace, a swift plot and deep reflection. He enters an intimate crack and turns it into something universal. Animales luminosos is a beautiful novel.”Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

“The author of Animales luminosos raises the stakes with the power of a narrative that feels like ‘a ball of fire,’ leaving overwhelming sensations of rage, helplessness, and desolation in the reader’s body. A stunning novel, crafted with stylistic precision, that suggests it is the acknowledgment of the past that makes the future possible.” Emiliano Monge, El País

“Vargas Llosa once endorsed him as a major promise of his country’s literature and of the Spanish language, and now it seems that destiny—becoming one of the great Latin American writers—is agreed upon by all.” Juan Cruz, El Periódico

“Both Contarlo todo and Animales luminosos are, above all, works of a craftsman—an artist who takes on more challenges than his narrative skill strictly demands. Gamboa doesn’t just write on autopilot; he pushes form and constantly tests himself.” Carlos Zanón, Babelia

“Written with a steady pulse that reveals a hidden, nocturnal plot step by step, Animales luminosos is a true short novel, flawless in its execution, showing that Jeremías Gamboa’s talent for the genre not only remains intact, but has also yielded one of its finest fruits.” Diego Gándara, La Razón