Contra natura
Contra natura

Against Nature

Contra natura

A novel that reflects an independent and politically incorrect discourse, as removed from the Catholic Church's condemnations as it is from the saccharine figurines on the wedding cake at a gay marriage. The retired publisher Javier Salazar lives comfortably in his flat in Madrid. He has the satisfied feeling of having been finally compensated by life... Until one afternoon he interrupts his reading to go for a walk in the park, where he meets a young man, Ramón Durán, with whom he exchanges words and jokes. The beginning of a relationship between them will let some old concerns fly into Salazar's conscience: a tortured conscience, full of charm and brilliantness, but also of scorn, vanity and self destruction. When Ramón Durán‚s old professor Juanjo Garnacho enters the stage, the relationship becomes a dangerous minefield.A frenetic and contemporary plot which doesn‚t lack suicides, assassinations and police investigations. Once again, Pombo unfolds his best weapons: the talent to captivate daily life, his mastery for dialogues, the sense of humour and a powerful and dazzling prose that entraps the reader from beginning to end.

PAGES568
SERIESNarrativas hispánicas
PUBLICATION14/11/2005
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TRANSLATION RIGHTS SALES

  • France (Christian Bourgois)
  • Portugal (EDIÇÕES 70)
  • USA (Lumen Books)
  • Brazil (Almedina)
 
Álvaro Pombo

Álvaro Pombo

Álvaro Pombo was born in Santander in 1939 and curren-tly lives in Madrid. He has a B.A. from the University of Madrid, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Birkbeck College (London). He has been awarded the Herralde Novel Prize (1983) for El héroe de las Mansardas de Mansard, the Critics' Prize (1991) for El metro de platino iridiado, and both, the Ciudad de Barcelona Prize and the National Literature Prize (1997) for Donde las mujeres, for which he was also shortlisted in the Aristeion Prize. With La cuadratura del círculo he was awarded the Fastenrath Prize (2001) by the Royal Academy of Language. El cielo raso was awarded The Lara Fundation Prize (2002), granted by eleven major publishers to the best published novel of the year. Also, in 2002 he was appointed to the Royal Academy of Spanish Language. For Contra natura has been awarded the Ciudad de Barcelona and the Salambó Prizes.