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"Wonderful World"
Javier Calvo's book is "extravagant, absurd, sometimes over the top, and with an undercurrent of the ominous, Spanish novelist Calvo’s English-language debut defies easy description. It could be called a thriller, since it involves art forgery and theft, but it could as easily be called an ontological exercise that toys—in an often metafictional way—with the nature of reality and the integrity of narrative. The protagonist, Lucas, is a 33-year-old antiques dealer in Barcelona who finds himself embroiled simultaneously with two gangs of thieves who may have been allies of his late father, even as his horrifically awful mother is suing him for control of the family business. Meanwhile, his best friend is his 12-year-old neighbor, a fatherless girl named Valentina, who regards herself as the greatest living Stephen King expert (“excerpts” from King’s newest novel are sprinkled throughout the book). Other cultural references ranging from psychedelic rock and heavy metal to horror movies and superhero comics abound, while the novel’s action is overlaid by a patina of Quentin Tarentino–like violence. Surreal, sexy, wildly funny, self-indulgent, and wretchedly excessive, Wonderful World is clearly not for all readers, but it will have its passionate advocates and has all the earmarks of a cult favorite in the making.
Amazon
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