07/08/2024

In an introduction, Spanish filmmaker Almodóvar (Patty Diphusa and Other Writings) describes this dynamic collection, which blends fiction and essays, as a “fragmented autobiography” and a “complement to my cinematographic works.” The best entries have a confessional tone. These include two works of fiction—“The Visit,” about a woman’s encounter with an abusive priest, which formed the spine of his film Bad Education, and “Confessions of a Sex Symbol,” which recounts a migraine experienced by porn star Patty Diphusa, a character who featured in Almodóvar’s previous collection. In the strikingly personal title essay, he observes, “I learned much from my mother, without either of us realizing.” The author’s complex feelings about filmmaking form the basis for the story “Too Many Gender Swaps,” about two lovers, a director and actor, and their mutually parasitic creative partnership. Not everything works here. “The Mirror Ceremony” is a stiff riff on Dracula, and “Joanna, the Beautiful Madwoman,” a “Sleeping Beauty”–esque fable, is a snooze. But there are plenty of insights into Almodóvar’s creative process peppered throughout (“To write, you must refuse yourself to others”). The director’s fans will find much to admire in this potpourri of ideas and images. (Sept.)

Instantly fascinating, brimming with twisting narratives and unforgettable endings… The Last Dream stands alone as a major literary talent’s virtuosic debut.” — Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!

"Sometimes surreal, sometimes prurient, sometimes discomfiting—and every page worth reading." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A heady mix of factual and fictitious, befitting of one of cinema’s most imaginative storytellers... mingl[ing] elaborately fantastical fictions with candid personal essays." — The Guardian

"The Last Dream is an inspiring testament to one of cinema’s great creative forces. These stories/ allegories/ dreams/ philosophical riffs and intense personal sketches shimmer with all of the vibrance, humor, provocation and humanity of Almodóvar’s entire body of work. A true delight.”   — Sam Lipsyte, author of the New York Times bestseller The Ask

“The sheer depth and breadth of the collection is astonishing, and it’s made more astonishing by the economy of language. A slim volume of just a dozen stories, The Last Dream is light on embellishment or lengthy description. Almodóvar’s prose is lean but evocative, ele­gant but grounded, and translator Frank Wynne has done a remarkable job rendering it into styl­ish, beautifully spare English. Almodóvar’s characters, like those in his films, are full of yearning and wonder. Both for fans of great short fiction and for fans of the director, The Last Dream is a must-read.” — BookPage (starred review)

"A genre-agnostic spin through the Spanish filmmaker’s favorite preoccupations: doleful divas, Catholic education, rebellion, and the countercultural ferment of Madrid after Franco’s rule." — Vulture

"The stories in The Last Dream are like a kaleidoscope that reflects to you only the finest, most unexpected moments. The delicious blend of truth and fiction drops you intimately, with raw honesty, inside Almodóvar’s heart. I love this book!" — Miguel Arteta, director of Beatriz At Dinner

★ 2024-06-15
The noted Spanish director delivers a series of contes à clef, giving his merrily transgressive takes on life a good literary workout.

“This collection of stories (I call everything a story, I don’t distinguish between genres) demonstrates the intimate relationship between what I write, what I film, and what I live,” writes Almodóvar, the creator of films such asAll About My Mother andWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The declaration is a touch cryptic, but what follows is often strange and sometimes shocking, as with his opening story, “The Visit,” in which the putative sister of a man molested by priests in boyhood confronts one of them; he accuses her of dressing like a prostitute, to which she retorts, “I don’t particularly like the way you dress either.” For those who know Almodóvar’s films, the surprise ending won’t come entirely as a surprise. In another story, an actor, León, desperate for a project, contemplates a top-to-bottom rewriting of the classicL’Amore, Roberto Rossellini’s adaptation of a play by Jean Cocteau, its star the luminous Anna Magnani; in León’s vision, it will become a love story between men: “The lover is bisexual....Bisexuality is the great neglected topic of the sexual revolution.” It doesn’t play out. Perhaps the most eccentric tale portrays an aristocratic vampire who comes calling on, again, a priest whose blood flows after self-flagellation; says the vampire, who could have sunk his teeth into the scenario but professes no interest in “vampirizing,” “I am like your mystics; I like to be alone, left to follow my own devices and desires.” Jesus, Barabbas, the singer Chavela, Isabella and Ferdinand, and, yes, the vampire all show up in these oddly delightful stories, no one doing quite what they’re expected to do.

Sometimes surreal, sometimes prurient, sometimes discomfiting—and every page worth reading.