Quim Monzó

The official site of Quim Monzó, available in English, Spanish and his own Catalan:

http://www.monzo.info/index.htm

Recommendation, with all that is in me: The Enormity of the Tragedy. I read the bulk of this book in Las Vegas, while on the plane to and from and while in the hotel sipping whiskey and waiting for the next casino crawl. This book, while, pardon the pun, enormously fun, really sickened me at times—sickened in the best way imaginable. It really is chilling and hilarious all at once. Monzó is a madman, a beautiful madman.

I’ve been reading his only other book in English, O’Clock, a collection of stories, all of which are quite good but none of which struck me the way The Enormity of the Tragedy has. Here’s hoping that more of his work becomes translated into English. He’s apparently quite prolific. I’m also hoping that a better press picks up his next book. The editor missed about ten glaring typos, which did not detract from the enjoyment of the novel. Still, they’re charging enough for a paperback, so you’d think they’d comb over the text a bit more before submitting the final edit.

And here’s a link to a story of his (which I haven’t read just yet) from Words Without Borders:

http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/?lab=MonzoNothing