Eduardo Mendoza

The great novel of Barcelona.

In the period between the two Universal Expositions held in Barcelona in 1888 and 1929, and against the backdrop of a tumultuous, bustling, picturesque
city – both real and imagined, we follow the adventures of Onofre Bouvila, an impoverished immigrant, purveyor of anarchist propaganda and hair tonic salesman, and his rise to the heights of financial and criminal power.

Mendoza offers us a new, highly original incarnation of the picaresque novel and a brilliantly inventive portrait of local myths and festivities. A playful, satirical fantasy whose solid realistic foundations do not preclude unfettered fabulation.

“This is an exceptional work, one that not even Mendoza himself will displace with a later one, even if he manages to surpass it in the eyes of the experts.” Juan Benet

“It is almost certain that Eduardo Mendoza is our best novelist of recent years—or at least he is well on his way to becoming so (...) With this, his fourth novel, Eduardo Mendoza definitively took the lead among the large group of new Spanish narrators.” Rafael Conte

“As a historical narrative, The City of Marvels constantly self-relativizes without self-destructing, dismantling any pomposity or triumphalist discourse.” Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, Zenda