The Book of Barcelona: A City in Short Fiction (Reading the City)

Author(s): Zoe Turner (Editor), Manel Ollé (Editor)

Location(s): Barcelona

Genre(s): Short Stories

Location

Content

A slighted wife escapes her family in a wealthy neighbourhood for the night and stumbles into the city’s red-light district…

The head of security at Barcelona’s container port searches for a figure that only he has seen sneak into the compound…

An elderly woman brings home a machine that will turn her body into atoms, so she can leave behind a city that is no longer recognisable…

Barcelona is historically a city of anarchy and resistance; a focal point for Catalan identity, as well as a symbol of democracy. Nestled between the Mediterranean coast and mountains, this growing city has also been home to some of the greatest names in modern art and architecture, and attracts visitors and migrants from all over the world.

As a result, the city is a melting-pot of cultures, and the stories gathered here offer a mishmash of form and genre, fittingly reminiscent of one of Gaudi’s mosaics. From the boy-giant outgrowing his cramped flat on Barcelona’s outskirts, to the love affair that begins in a launderette, we meet characters who are reclaiming the independence of their city by challenging common misconceptions and telling its myriad truths.

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