La novel·la de Sant Jordi

Italy / Marcos y Marcos

“The novel is is a satire of the literary world, including publishing houses, bookstores and media that surround the Book Day celebration. It is also a defence of literature as a game, an advocacy for a personal territory where ingenuity, mental agility, imagination and unpredictability defeat everything that is sticky, programmed and expected.” Julià Guillamon, La Vanguardia

«For Màrius Serra, literature is a game, and each book is approached as an exercise in reinvention. [...] The writer has set out to make his first foray into the noir genre, mixing metaliterary references with a sense of humor that, although is not destructive,  sets up a rather devastating panorama of the literary world.» Jordi Nopca, Ara

“The Bookday’s Bestseller invites to a vertiginous reading thanks to Serra’s ability to dominate narrative rhythm." Ponç Puigdevall, El País

Biting, dark, caustic and irreverent, Sant Jordi is a satirical portrait of the literary world, a skilful, irony-laden depiction of the inner workings of Catalonia’s Book Day. Joyful, vibrant, celebratory … at least that’s how the Day of Sant Jordi appears to readers. Meanwhile, writers and editors endure a shattering, nerve-wracking day as they bid for glory. Of all of the days that have been and gone, this one looks set to be crucial for our protagonist: Màrius Serra is making his debut with the prestigious publishing house Lorem Ipsum, helmed by Nilo Isla, editor par excellence, and has his eye on the top of the bestseller charts. In a plot full of twists and turns, it recounts the deaths of a string of writers at the hands of a small gang of enraged poets guided by a sinister role-playing game. Serra’s hopes for his first ever noir could not be higher. Nor could those of his agent. Or his editor for that matter. However, such are the tricks played by fate, his novel turns out to be prophetic, as a series of crimes as abominable as they are real bathe the book stands of Barcelona in blood over the course of the morning’s signings. One by one, the most celebrated authors start dropping like flies, and the scandal threatens to topple the very foundations on which the publishing industry stands: ego, vanity, vengeance, ambition… The accusing finger of blame points insistently at Màrius Serra and his game-devising friend Oriol Comas i Coma. But nothing in this story will be left to fate…