Farsa
» Ramon Llull Prize
In 1856 Robert-Houdin, the father of modern magic, travels to Algeria sent by the French government to convince the Algerians of the superiority of enlightened reason. In Barcelona, 2004, a magician that is fascinated by Houdin presents a trick with a closet that had belonged to the Frenchman.
A Maghrebi immigrant enters it and comes out converted into a proper Barcelonan: he speaks without an accent, he can sing the national anthem, and he’s a card-carrying member of the Barcelona Football Club. Then he disappears. The show is a huge success, but the continuing disappearances of immigrants start to cause alarm within society. The key to the mystery lies in the Barcelona Casino. Màrius Serra reveals the farce within some of our public behaviors and leads us to an unexpected outcome in this brilliant parody of contemporary society.
PRESS
«A novel both literary and commercial.» David Castillo
«The best quality humour with lucid reflections» Ángel Basanta, El Mundo
«This novel’s great virtue is its entertainment value (…) a satire with an extraordinary display of humor (…) brilliant and intelligent metaphors.» Carles Pujol, member of the jury
«A text that reads incredibly quickly, with short, resounding sentences (…) humor that is at once both brutal and refined.» Ponç Puigdevall, El País
«Apparently gentle but deep down, merciless (…) one of the most daring novels in Catalan literature of recent years (…) a popular book that reads at lightning speed, fun, dynamic and effective (…) a devastating satire of posturing.» Jordi Galves, La Vanguardia
«Suggestive, funny, apparently light but rich in its linguistic and conceptual subtleties.» Glauco Felici, Tuttolibri, La Stampa
TRANSLATIONS
Italy: Neri Pozza; Romania: RAO; Spanish: Planeta
