How to succeed in life. Edited by Julià Guillamon

Idioma original: catalanOriginal title: How to succeed in life

Year of publication: 2009

Valuation: highly recommended

It was only a few days ago that Quim Monzó announced his intention, apparently definitive (“I’ve had enough”), to stop publishing his contributions to the press, his articles, a handful a month, where he displayed his sharp analysis and his gently corrosive verbosity and which, on many occasions, were the most worthwhile in many daily editions. In fact, the bulk of his most recent work would be a compilation of his texts in a short format that does not yet exist and the unconditional ones will have to make do with that recollection, with maintaining the hope that this retirement will allow him to decide to undertake new stories or, that would be the bravest, a novel.

How to succeed in life It works very well as a shoulder to cry on. For mythomaniacs, it is an excellent approach to the whole habitat which gave birth to the author. It is a book full of graphic material of the most diverse kind. It reproduces from some school booklets with his grades, to some of his work as a graphic designer before he focused his existence on writing, we have images of that corpulent, shaggy young man, a kumbaya slightly dissident as he has shown, and of course the text, full of profuse collaborations from different personalities that, rather than praising his work – which is not necessary – break down his sparkling career as a public figure omnipresent in the Catalan media, stopping of course at one of his most brilliant facets: the ability to laugh at oneself, at an individual and collective level. It is very important that one can see one’s own actions and can define some as pathetic. Many should learn and do not make me say names. In this sense, although some may slip into the panegyric tone – fifteen years ago, imagine now – everyone agrees to stay away from excessive flattery. Even today, from his activity on Twitter it can be deduced that Monzó may have put on the brakes at a certain level of production, but that his head is a runaway locomotive that absorbs and processes information about what happens around him.

There are extracts from his reference works, there are hints of criticism of the evolution of his style, of his attitudes towards the world, of that shameless recognition of certain excesses that have pushed his creative side to maintain that attitude (of which I see a parallel in very few writers) acid and biting with everyone. If you liked Monzó, How to succeed in life It is an orgy for the senses. If you didn’t know it, it is a crazy invitation to pry (pentavocalic word!) in his work. If you didn’t like it until now, well, goodbye.