The Last Dream

Reviews / Votes

A heady mix of factual and fictitious, befitting of one of cinema's most imaginative storytellers... [the collection is] bracing, the book serving as an outlet for something Almodovar can't express from behind a camera... The Last Dream has its pleasures - some of them lurid, some rather poignant * Observer * 'The Life and Death of Miguel'...could have been written by Roberto Bolano at his height... It's fascinating that in fiction Almodovar prefers to inhabit [a] historical and often fantastical universe. To judge by The Last Dream, he's akin to a Spanish Angela Carter, or a cousin to the undersung Argentinian genius Silvina Ocampo. What his films and stories have in common is a vivid melodrama; a preoccupation with motherhood, outsiders and religion -- Camilla Grudova * Telegraph * It's no surprise that Pedro Almodovar's The Last Dream is instantly fascinating, brimming with twisting narratives and unforgettable endings-Almodovar has given us three decades of such stories on the big screen. What's more surprising, what's actually thrilling, is witnessing this major artist fully flourish in a totally new medium. The characters feel as vivid and complex as anyone I might call to talk about them. Their resentments fester and erupt. They orbit - clumsily, hilariously, tragically - epiphanic moments of emotional and psychosexual clarity. There's a Borgesian uncanny braided throughout - like Borges, Almodovar's mind seems to be reporting from another world to illuminate, clarify, and challenge our own. This is not auxiliary fiction from a film director; The Last Dream stands alone as a major literary talent's virtuosic debut * Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr! * 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 Almodovar's heart. I love this book! * Miguel Arteta, director of Beatriz At Dinner * 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, humour, provocation and humanity of Almodovar's entire body of work. A true delight * Sam Lypsyte, author of the New York Times bestseller The Ask * Like his films...[the short stories] are keenly observed, melodramatically powerful, sad and sardonic...and always spiritually sumptuous * Empire * With its intriguing mix of short stories and personal sketches the book is more interesting than the average autobiography... there is much to enjoy in this book * Morning Star *