Book description
I> are two darkly humorous novellas from the award-winning author of
Soldiers of Salamis
. The Tenant
is the mischievous story of Mario Rota, a linguistics professor whose
life starts to unravel after he twists his ankle while out jogging one
day. A rival professor appears, takes over his classes and bewitches his
girlfriend. Where will Rota's nightmare end - and where did it begin?
The Motive
is a satire about a writer, lvaro, who becomes obsessed with finding
the ideal inspiration for his novel. First he begins spying on his
neighbours, then he starts leading them on, creating a reversal of the
maxim that art follows life - with some dire consequences. Written with
a supremely light touch, these witty novellas are enjoyable masterpieces
that linger long in the memory.
I> and The Motive<
The Tenant<
'Javier Cercas is one of the hottest properties
in contemporary Spanish fiction ... Cercas is a superficially
humorous and profoundly disturbing author. In his novels, reality
is less convincing than fiction and fantasy never stranger than
truth' Amanda Hopkinson, Observer 'Both funny and sinister ... The
Motive is a small comic masterpiece with a satisfyingly bleak
ending ... It is a pleasure to read such original, haunting
stories in which so much is said with such wit and insight and
above all with such refreshing economy' Anne Chisholm, Sunday
Telegraph 'Light, clever and enjoyable ... assured and
accomplished' Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph 'Javier Cercas has
some twisty Nabokovian fun with the plot ... the stories convey a
sense of a novelist at play' Financial Times
I> are two darkly humorous novellas from the
award-winning author of Soldiers of Salamis. The
Tenant is the mischievous story of Mario Rota, a linguistics
professor whose life starts to unravel after he twists his ankle
while out jogging one day. A rival professor appears, takes over
his classes and bewitches his girlfriend. Where will Rota's
nightmare end - and where did it begin? The Motive is a
satire about a writer, lvaro, who becomes obsessed with finding
the ideal inspiration for his novel. First he begins spying on his
neighbours, then he starts leading them on, creating a reversal of
the maxim that art follows life - with some dire consequences.
Written with a supremely light touch, these witty novellas are
enjoyable masterpieces that linger long in the memory.
I> and The Motive<
The Tenant<
