Francisco Casavella

A marginal odyssey in Barcelona, from the Spanish Transition to the eve of the Olympic Games.

On August 15th, 1971, Francisco Atienza climbs over the fence of a mansion
in Pedralbes, barefoot and broke, pretending to belong. He has just stolen a thousand pesetas—Spain’s former currency, about 6€ today—and declares that he will change his life. In a context marked by the dissolution of democracy due to political and financial scandals and a series of small and large concessions, Atienza prepares to review the history of his city and his country. But also his own life.

Brought back to readers by Anagrama in 2016, The Day of the Watusi marked the consecration of Francisco Casavella as one of the finest literary talents in the Spanish language. His masterpiece it’s a novel that reads like a giant joke— extravagant, erratic, and deeply disorienting. It belongs to that rare breed of total novels: mad, maximalist, and impossible to paraphrase. The Day of the Watusi has become a cult classic. Punk, tragic, and darkly funny, it’s a coming-of-age novel that morphs into a political thriller and social satire. Reading Casavella is like lighting a Molotov cocktail and realising it’s a love letter. 

“Francisco Casavella’s literary legacy is guaranteed.” Times Literary Supplement

“One of the most talented fiction writers of his generation.” Juan Marsé

“A luxury for our literature." José María Pozuelo Yvancos, ABC 

“With this work, Casavella establishes a strong position among the storytellers that make his novels essential. Without them, the world would be a poorer place; it would have less truth in it.” Enrique Turpín, El Periódico 

“The tremendous, critical vision of a sleepwalking city and era.” Ana María Moix, El País

“El día del Watusi represents the full validation of this author. With time, he will acquire the weight solely reserved for those books that are a brilliant and enduring reference for subsequent works.” Jesús Martínez Gómez, Quimera

“What Casavella achieves in his heroic literature is the revelation of secrets that tell the story of a Barcelona whose existence has been wholly rejected.” Javier Pérez Andújar, El País

“A novel whose beginning is inspired by rumour and the ease with which Casavella is able to capture an oral saga, and culminates in a conspiratory world reminiscent of today’s.” Jordi Costa, El País

“The perfect antidote to the worst of diseases a society can suffer: self-importance. We believe that we are before the novel of the transition itself.” Andrés Pau, Levante

“El día del Watusi is the stark portrait of one of the years that everyone wishes to sweep under the carpet of memory. Only those excluded from history, those who always lose the battles, may appropriate the ‘W’ for Watusi that hovers over the novel.” Joan Riambau, L’Avenç