
El mal de Montano
Anagrama, 2002; Seix Barral, 2012; PRH/DeBolsillo, 2013
Translations
Brazil / Cosac Naify; Bulgaria / Stigmati; France / Bourgois / Pocket, Titres; Germany / Nagel & Kimche; Greece / Kastaniotis; Italy / Feltrinelli; The Netherlands / De Bezige Bij; Macedonia / ILI-ILI Publishing; Portugal / Teorema; Slovakia / Belimex; Sweden / Tranan; UK / Harvill Secker; USA / New Directions
Awards
-HERRALDE PRIZE
-PRIX MÉDICIS, 2003
-NATIONAL CRITICS PRIZE
-CRITICS CIRCLE PRIZE, Chile
-Ennio Flaiano International Prize for Narrative.
-Shortlisted for the first Warwick Prize 2009
Press
«A splendid novel.» Fernando Savater, El País
«Portentous lucidity, ironic distance and an enviable sense of humour.» J.M. Pozuelo Yvancos, ABC
«An excellent writer whose originality separates him from any of the other attempts of the last forty years.» Ricardo Senabre, El Mundo
«El mal de Montano is a daring, provocative, extraordinary novel.» J.A. Masoliver Ródenas, La Vanguardia
«I have become a fanatic of Vila-Matas, that profound yet funny Barcelonian, and my only regret is not having enough time to read all of his books.» Maurice Nadeau, La Quinzaine Littéraire
Synopsis
(Montano’s Malady) Between a private diary and a novel, a sentimental journey, autofiction and essay, El mal de Montano proposes the triumph of literature, as if it is the only means of glimpsing the idea of survival or a possibility of a new sense coming. A narrator, who signs his books using the maternal name of Rosario Girondo, writes a personal diary and a timid dictionary of his life, and his Montano’s malady is so strong… He is so sick with literature that the initial fiction (the creation of a character obsessed with the future of literature and dedicated to deciphering the art of the personal diaries of his favourite writers) ends up becoming reality when the author decides to become flesh and blood in the literature itself; incarnate himself in it, turn himself into the memory of the universal library, and form part of a secret society of plotters against the enemy of literature.
- Cabinet d’amateur, an oblique novel
- Esta bruma insensata
- Impón tu suerte
- Doctor Pasavento + Bastian Schneider
- Mac y su contratiempo
- Marienbad eléctrico
- Bartleby y compañía
- Dietario Voluble
- Suicidios ejemplares
- Historia abreviada de la literatura portátil
- Kassel no invita a la lógica
- París no se acaba nunca
- Niña
- Fuera de aquí
- Extraña forma de vida
- Aire de Dylan
- Hijos sin hijos
- Una vida absolutamente maravillosa. Ensayos selectos
- El viajero más lento. El arte de no terminar nada
- Chet Baker piensa en su arte. Relatos selectos
- En un lugar solitario. Narrativa 1973-1984
- Lejos de Veracruz
- Dublinesca
- Perder teorías
- Ella era Hemingway / No soy Auster
- El viento ligero en Parma
- Exploradores del abismo
- Desde la ciudad nerviosa
- El viaje vertical
- Para acabar con los números redondos
- Recuerdos inventados
- Una casa para siempre
- Impostura
- La asesina ilustrada
MB Authors Fiction
- Pablo ARANDA
- Juan Luis ARSUAGA
- Joan BARRIL
- Nuria BARRIOS
- Felipe BENÍTEZ REYES
- Max BESORA
- Joan-Daniel BEZSONOFF
- Juan BONILLA
- Emilio BUESO
- Leonardo CANO
- Martín CASARIEGO
- Nicolás CASARIEGO
- Paula CIFUENTES
- Juan CUADRA
- Cristina FALLARÁS
- Laura FERRERO
- Josep Maria FONALLERAS
- Albert FORNS CANAL
- Ignacio GARCÍA-VALIÑO
- José A. GARRIGA VELA
- Albert GASSULL
- David B. GIL
- Marcos GIRALT TORRENTE
- Ismael GRASA
- Javier GUTIÉRREZ
- Najat El HACHMI
- Alicia KOPF
- Use LAHOZ
- Lucía LIJTMAER
- Ignacio MARTÍNEZ DE PISóN
- Ana MERINO
- Luna MIGUEL
- Miquel OBIOLS
- Bruno ORO
- Miqui OTERO
- Vicenç PAGÈS JORDÀ
- Enric PARDO
- Concepción PEREA
- Juan Manuel DE PRADA
- Jordi PUNTÍ
- Llucia RAMIS
- Antonio J. RODRÍGUEZ
- Félix ROMEO
- Gemma RUIZ
- Màrius SERRA
- Aránzazu SERRANO LORENZO
- Ramon SOLSONA
- David TRUEBA
- Juan VICO
- Enrique VILA-MATAS
- Rolando VILLAZÓN
- Pedro ZARRALUKI