Winners of the Inaugural Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award

Infused with the spirit of pulp fiction, b-movies, zines, and punk rock, The Fake Muse is a linguistic tour-de-force from the author of The Adventures and Misadventures of the Extraordinary and Admirable Joan Orpí, Conquistador and Founder of New Catalonia.

The book opens by introducing us, one by one, to an array of troubled characters, each with their own typographical voice. There’s Johnny (an Aries) who turns into a vampire at a showing of Nosferatu, there’s Meritxell (a Leo) who falls in love with a giant mutant hamster-philosopher, Josep (Cancer) who is also known as the “King Kong of the Bronx,” and Amanda aka Maryjane (Scorpio) who has had it with the abuse she’s suffered at the hands of the . . . author, Max Besora (Aquarius), and who is ready to take whatever action necessary.

Wildly inventive, with each character’s vignette more hilarious and explosive than the last, The Fake Muse weaves these stories together into a thrilling cinema-like production à la Sonic Youth meets Quentin Tarantino, raising questions about power structures, victimization, and the role of the author in bringing it all to life.