THE CITY OF MARVELS

by Eduardo Mendoza ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1988

From a contemporary Spanish author, a picaresque tale of an adventurer and his city (Barcelona). Onofre Bouvila arrives there from the country in 1887, barely into his teens. He has left home on discovering that his father, recently returned from Cuba, is a bankrupt and a fraud. Onofre's arrival coincides with preparations for the World's Fair of 1888; these (and the dispute between Barcelona and Madrid over the Fair's funding) are described in detail. Acting on a tip from Delfina (the raggedy maid-of-all-work at Onofre's boardinghouse), the lad contacts some anarchists and hawks their pamphlets to the construction workers; but his goal is riches, and he switches to selling hair-restorer. Soon known as an unscrupulous ""smooth operator,"" he is snapped up by Don Humbert, the shady lawyer who heads one of Barcelona's underworld organizations. Onofre works for him for ten years, playing a pivotal role in the elimination of a rival group. Next, Onofre moves into real estate, Barcelona being a city of speculators, and by age 26 he is on his way to becoming the richest man in Spain. Meanwhile, he has fallen in love with Margarita, Don Humbert's daughter, and wins her in one of his boldest (and bloodiest) coups. Onofre goes on to become a WW I arms merchant and then a movie mogul, transforming Delfina, of all people, into a star of the silent screen. Yet he remains a social outcast, with an unhappy personal life; his love for Margarita dies when she cannot provide him with an heir. His final exploit involves the surprise launching of a vertical-takeoff aircraft at Barcelona's second World's Fair in 1929. Pleasant enough reading, but no grabber; the cool, level tone (which gives equal weight to Onofre's adventures and municipal business) sees to that, along with the ice-cold Onofre, who becomes progressively dwarfed by the scale of events.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION