Overview

The future belongs to the migrant, the outsider, the foreigner. Long live our alien masters! Juan Pablo Villalobos's fifth novel adopts a gentle, fable-like tone, approaching the problem of racism from the perspective that any position as idiotic as xenophobia can only be fought with sheer absurdity. In an unnamed city, occupied by an unnamed world power, an immigrant named Gastn makes his living selling exotic vegetables to eateries around the city. He has a dog called Kitten, who's been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and a good friend called Max, who's in a deep depression after being forced to close his restaurant. Meanwhile, Max's son, Pol, a scientist away on a scientific expedition into the Arctic, can offer little support. Gastn begins a quest, or rather three: he must search for someone to put his dog to sleep humanely; he must find a space in which to open a new restaurant with Max; and he must look into the truth behind the news being sent back by Pol: that human life may be the by-product of an ancient alien attempt at colonisation...and those aliens might intend to make a return visit.

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9781913505363

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'Invasion of the Spirit People is a celebration of closeness, of friendship . . . It implies a vision of the world that is anti-essentialist and anti-territorial, but is instead inclusive.' Nadal Suau, El Mundo - - -'An extraordinary novel that you can read in one sitting and which confirms Villalobos's place among the great writers of the city. Stories of rootlessness like these are as valuable as a sociological treatise, especially when they let you know that there's always a friend nearby to give you a hand, which is something that never appears in manuals.' Jordi Garrigos, Ara

Invasion of the Spirit People is a celebration of closeness, of friendship . . . It implies a vision of the world that is anti-essentialist and anti-territorial, but is instead inclusive. --Nadal Suau, El Mundo An extraordinary novel that you can read in one sitting and which confirms Villalobos's place among the great writers of the city. Stories of rootlessness like these are as valuable as a sociological treatise, especially when they let you know that there's always a friend nearby to give you a hand, which is something that never appears in manuals. --Jordi Garrigos, Ara

Author Information

Juan Pablo Villalobos was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1973. He studied marketing and Spanish literature before working as a market researcher as well as writing travel stories and literary and film criticism. He has researched topics as diverse as the influence of the avant-garde on the work of Csar Aira and the flexibility of pipelines for electrical installations. His books include his Guardian First Book Award-shortlisted debut Down the Rabbit Hole, as well as Quesadillas, I'll Sell You a Dog and I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me. Rosalind Harvey is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, teaches translation at the University of Warwick, has served on the board of the Translators Association and is a founding member and chair of the Emerging Translators Network.

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