Some say that the new year begins in September and not in January. This is perhaps a feeling inherited from school times, when the break from obligations in the summer was for everyone and they returned at the end of the summer in an inevitable way. In adulthood, the dates of rest, if any, are not so clear except for certain sectors such as the book industry.
Editors, communications officers, distributors, printers, booksellers and cultural journalists return to their posts to manage, according to their position, the avalanche of new literary works that arrive every autumn. This is not an exaggeration: there are many new or reissued titles with an excuse (anniversary, different translation, illustrations, commentaries). Constantino Bertolo’s proposal to prohibit by law each author from publishing only three books in his lifetime has not had much impact.
So that the following is not a crazy and indigestible salad – as Nora Ephron would say, who is also in the fall catalog of Asteroid Books – the chosen titles have been grouped by genre. In each of them, there are writers of all kinds: bestsellers, debutants, unknowns, cult writers, who write in Spanish and in translation. Of course, not all of them are here, but there are some who must be (for various reasons). Any contribution that improves this list will be welcome in the comments, as always.
Autobiographies
The “Let’s Talk About Me” genre continues to grow, but here only books written by the protagonist and not by a ghostwriter are mentioned. [el que trabaja el texto que después firma el famoso de turno]. Ignacio Martínez de Pisón delves into his memories of adolescence and youth Bedding (Seix Barral) as Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón in Life and wonders (Anagrama), although it also includes his film career and portraits of his mentors such as Berlanga or José Luis Borau.
The adventures of Teffi (pseudonym of Nadezhda Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya) took place many kilometers away and years before. In Memories. From Moscow to the Black Sea (Asteroid Books) tells of his journey from Moscow to Constantinople in the midst of civil war, but with a lot of humor. less alive is sad tiger by Neige Sinno (Anagrama), a text that oscillates between autobiography and essay to recount the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepfather.
Another of the most anticipated titles is The more people die, the more I want to live. (Topics of today), where Maruja Torres looks back on her life with the humorous tone that characterizes her. Martín Caparrós ends this summary with First of alla memoir that functions as a literary artifact (Random House).
Fictional stories
Many of the most anticipated titles of the new year are gathered here. One of them is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Random House): her thousands of fans and detractors are eager to read her latest work to applaud or criticize it (more about her than the novel itself). Asteroid Books has included in its catalog The Rachel Factor by Caroline O’Donoghue, a move that could be interpreted as an attempt to ride the wave of Rooney’s success – the two writers have many traits in common – but, in any case, the important thing is that the novel is great, without further ado. . speculations about the marketing of star fruits.
The publishing house Muñeca Infinita is betting big with loved and lostby Susie Boyt – daughter of Lucian Freud and great-great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud, to find out more – a novel about care that was a huge hit in the English-speaking market last year. In addition, Michael Cunningham – the acclaimed author of The hours– with Day (Lumen), a text about the limits of family life and Mircea Cărtărescu, who presents a novel entitled Theodoros (Impedimenta) of adventures that take place over more than 650 pages.
In the team of beginners is the journalist José Luis Sastre, who starts with Stolen Sentences (Plaza & Janés), a story starring a father in his last days of life and his daughter. Julia Navarro, who presents The Boy Who Lost the War (Plaza & Janés); Arturo Pérez-Reverte, who returns with The Island of the Sleeping Woman (Alfaguara) and the trio of writers who call themselves Carmen Mola and publish, also in Alfaguara, Helen Blanco. The origin. Similarly, another veteran, Pilar Eyre, has signed a new novel entitled Mary the Brave (Sphere). Also on the list of possible bestsellers is Rocío Saiz who, despite being a beginner, will surely attract attention with her book Don’t let it show (Rock).
Gatopardo brings to its catalog of novelties the interesting The old hoursby Michael Bible, a book about the miseries of America’s underworld that include religious fanaticism, violence and various drugs. Joyce Carol Oates is also concerned about a novel about Dr. Silas Weir called Butcher (Alfaguara). Zadie Smith, who published the novel in Salamandra, closes this block of authors in English. The imposture on Victorian England (an unexpected subject considering his earlier work).
The Tránsito publishing house presents Eugenia Ladra, who debuts in the novel with Baitthe story of a teenager who discovers how sordid the world can be, especially for women. The Argentine Pola Oloixarac appears again on the literary market with Bad man (Random House), where he analyzes topics such as cancellation and political correctness as well as sex and desire. And Gabriela Wiener could not be missing in this review with Atuspariea work that Random House calls “the great Russian post-indigenist novel.”
We must not forget the story books, which arrive this season with two heavyweights: Douglas Coupland, with a collection of 60 short stories under the title frenzy (Alliance) and Margaret Atwood with Lost in the forest (Salamandra), which continues along its usual lines. In addition, Páginas de Espuma – which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year – adds the complete stories of Joseph Roth to its catalogue. It is also necessary to add to the list of interesting proposals black maybeby Attila Veres (Sexto Piso), with a prologue by Mariana Enríquez.
In non-fiction
At Captain Swing, they are always attentive to the explanations that society may need, which is why Hamas: Rise and pacification of Palestinian resistanceby Tareq Baconi comes at a more than opportune time. On a different tone, but also interesting for understanding reality, it is I Want and I Can’t. A Story of the Chic People of Spain (Blackie Books), an essay in which Raquel Peláez x-rays this phenomenon that dates back to at least the 19th century and has reached our days with the “cayetans” as obvious representatives.
Noemí Sabugal presents Marine Labyrinth. A journey through the life and history of our coasts (Alfaguara) the result of three years of research into what it means to live in and thanks to the sea. Another author who publishes a work with a long title is Juan José Millás with There is something that is not as they tell me. The case of Nevenka Fernandez against reality (Alfaguara), who inspired Icíar Bollaín to make the film My name is Nevenka.
Siruela launches an interesting book on the witch hunt and trials from the 15th century to the present day, signed by the professor of Renaissance and magical literature at the University of Exeter Marion Gibson: Witchcraft. A story in thirteen trials. For her part, June Fernandez has been speaking from Dreams and ships (Consonni) the complex issue of surrogacy from the journalistic essay to try to answer a thorny question: “What can be the path to follow to guarantee the rights of women and children, respect bodily autonomy, put an end to the voracity of reproductive markets and not get bogged down in punitivism?”
Finally, a small selection of books on music: White Nights. A Story of Mutant Children (Rock), by Juanjo Ibáñez; Bjorkby various (Nordic) authors; Misunderstood: The Jesus and Mary Channel, by William and Jim Reid (Contra); Complete lyrical workby Frank Zappa (Kultrum) and The end of the century party. Youth, pop and the birth of Madchester, by Steve Redhead (Liburuak).
Without forgetting poetry
Zappa’s title could also be included in this block dedicated to this literary genre that perhaps does not receive all the attention it deserves. This fall, Bibiana Collado – who last year successfully made her debut in the novel with exhausted mares– returns to bookstores with a collection of poems entitled Beef chips (La Bella Varsovia) in which he addresses the theme of the couple. The same publisher will publish Alba Cid’s new poems in the volume Atlas.
In the field of classics, Emily Dickinson stands out by returning to bookstores twice: Lumen publishes an anthology entitled 71 poems and Nórdica a collection of 37 poems dedicated to birds under the title The Secret of the Oriole.
Poetry also relates to current events, even if not with literal sentences. In this regard, it is worth highlighting the book Between Rita and my eyes, a gun by Mahmud Darwish, a Palestinian poet who is currently a reference in Arabic literature. And the new publishing house La Tortuga Búlgara enters the Spanish market with such interesting proposals as an anthology of current Ukrainian poetry that will be published in November.
And also comics
The vignette genre is full of interesting proposals. The Astiberri publishing house arrives in the fall with Truman Capote. Return to Garden Cityby Nadar and Xavier Bétaucourt, a book that investigates the personality of the author of In cold blood. Salamandra Graphics also publishes a volume focused on a classic writer, in this case Samuel Beckett. Javier Olivares and Jorge Carrión study the biography of the writer in Samuel & Beckett to find out where the person ends and the writer begins.
Japanese author Yamada Murasaki appears in the Salamandra Graphics new releases catalogue with A woman from behind. This is her first book published in Spain and the publisher presents her as “the representative of alternative manga at the end of the century.” For his part, Keum Suk Gendry-Kim – who swept the world last year Grass– spell Tomorrow will be another daythe second part of Dogsa work on South Korean family models.
