The Last Dream

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

A mischievous and genre-spanning story collection from legendary film director Pedro Almodóvar

The Last Dream brings together for the first time twelve unpublished stories from Almodóvar’s personal archive, written between the late sixties and the present day. Delivering a tantalising glimpse into Almodóvar’s world, this wildly inventive collection reflects his most intimate obsessions, as well as his daring evolution as an artist.

Ranging from ‘The Last Dream’ - a beautiful chronicle of the death of Almodóvar’s mother - to a love story between Jesus and Barabbas;, a cult film director out in search of painkillers on a bank holiday weekend, the original story behind the film Bad Education, and a gothic tale of a repentant vampire, these stories delight and surprise.

The Last Dream is a celebration of the relationship between life and art, fiction and reality from an artist unafraid to write about our most intimate moments. It explores desire, mortality and the pain and glory of artistic creation, laced with playful humour and a deep love of literature and culture.

Translated by Frank Wynne

©2024 Pedro Almodóvar (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

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 Almodóvar 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 Bolaño at his height... It’s fascinating that in fiction Almodóvar 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
Telegraph
It’s no surprise that Pedro Almodóvar’s The Last Dream is instantly fascinating, brimming with twisting narratives and unforgettable endings—Almodóvar 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, Almodóvar’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 Almodóvar’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 Almodóvar’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

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