You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

'An Aztec West Wing' GUARDIAN 'A triumph' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A mischievous fantasy' TLS 'Glorious' i-D In 1519, Conquistador Hernán Cortés and his troops ride into the floating city of Tenoxtitlan – today’s Mexico City – in this hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story. Invited to a ceremonial meal with the steely princess Atotoxtli, sister and wife of the emperor Moctezuma, the Spanish nearly bungle their entrance into the city and its labyrinthine palace. Soon, one of Cortés’s captains, Jazmín Caldera, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed, and wonders at the risks of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire. Moctezuma himself is at a political, spiritual and physical crossroads, relying on hallucinogens in a quest for any kind of answer from the gods. When Cortés and Moctezuma meet, two worlds, empires, languages, and possible futures collide. You Dreamed of Empires brings to life Tenoxtitlan at its height – and reimagines its destiny. It sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream. Translated by Natasha Wimmer

Parts of the novel play like an Aztec West Wing, taking us deep into the political manoeuvrings of the royal court but blending its particularities with 21st-century psychologyIt’s a rich approach that achieves a hallucinatory vividness * Guardian *
Riotously entertaining… Natasha Wimmer brilliantly brings the author’s playfulness and idiomatic humour to life for an English-language readership. The result is a triumph of solemnity-busting erudition and mischievous invention that will delight and titillate * Financial Times *
A mischievous fantasy… Enrigue plunges exuberantly into the revisionist speculation that rehabilitates Indiginous awareness and agency * Times Literary Supplement *
A lively, arresting read – if 2024 brings more novels as original as this one, it will be a good year * The Times *
An eclectic work of exceptional originality * Skinny *
Enrigue’s genius lies in his ability to bring readers close to its tangled knot of priests, mercenaries, warriors and princesses while adding a pinch of biting humor -- Silvia Moreno-Garcia * Los Angeles Times *
Enrigue’s work is marked by an all-consuming attention to historical detail.... He is a preternaturally entertaining and erudite writer who builds alternate worlds from the minutiae. He also seems like he’s having a pretty good time -- Benjamin Russell * New York Times *
Incantatory... Enrigue conjures both court intrigue and city life with grace * The New Yorker *
[S]ublime absurdities... abound in this delirious historical fantasia, which can be said to be many things: funny, ghastly, eye-opening, marvelous and frequently confounding * Wall Street Journal *
[S]hort, strange, spiky and sublime... Enrigue, who is clearly a major talent, has delivered a humane comedy of manners that is largely about paranoia (is today the day my head will be lopped off?) and the quotidian bummers of life, even if you are powerful beyond belief -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *
An alternate history of Mexican conquest, with a Tarantino-ready twist.... Deliciously gonzo.... Rendered in earthy, demotic, wryly unhistorical English by translator Natasha Wimmer... Enrigue’s antic style is high-minded, richly detailed, vulgar and sophisticated all at once — reminiscent of the films of Peter Greenaway or Derek Jarman * Washington Post *

Álvaro Enrigue was born in Mexico and lives in New York City. He is a literature professor at Hofstra University. Sudden Death - his first novel to be translated into English - was awarded the prestigious Herralde Prize in Spain, the Elena Poniatowska International Novel Award in Mexico, and the Barcelona Prize for Fiction.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781787303805
ISBN 10	1787303802
Title	You Dreamed of Empires
Author	Álvaro Enrigue
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Vintage Publishing
Year published	2024-01-11
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable