{"title":"Juan Pablo Villalobos","description":"\u003cp\u003eJuan Pablo Villalobos crafts compelling narratives that blend sharp wit with a unique perspective on contemporary life. His novels often explore themes of identity, culture, and the surreal complexities of personal and social relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect inventive storytelling paired with a distinctive voice, where elements of humour and poignancy intertwine to create engaging and thought-provoking general fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"i-dont-expect-anyone-to-believe-me-by-juan-pablo-villalobos-9781911508489","title":"I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eI don't expect anyone to believe me\u003c\/i\u003e, warns the narrator of this novel, a Mexican student called Juan Pablo Villalobos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe is about to fly to Barcelona on a scholarship when he's kidnapped in a bookshop and whisked away by thugs to a basement. The gangsters are threatening his cousin—a wannabe entrepreneur known to some as 'Projects' and to others as 'dickhead'—who is gagged and tied to a chair. The thugs say Juan Pablo must work for them. His mission? To make Laia, the daughter of a corrupt politician, fall in love with him. He accepts...though not before the crime boss has forced him at gunpoint into a discussion on the limits of humour in literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePart campus novel, part gangster thriller, \u003ci\u003eI Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me\u003c\/i\u003e is Villalobos at his best. Exuberantly foul-mouthed and intellectually agile, this hugely entertaining novel finds the light side of difficult subjects—immigration, corruption, family loyalty and love—in a world where the difference between comedy and tragedy depends entirely on who's telling the joke.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47486122885356,"sku":"9781911508489","price":34.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/e49fa6587b5bf95f9bc4772d38b01d48_ea179900-efdc-4d09-a3e7-7fd4a8eee625.jpg?v=1775780684"},{"product_id":"invasion-of-the-spirit-people-by-juan-pablo-villalobos-9781913505363","title":"Invasion of the Spirit People","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe future belongs to the migrant, the outsider, the foreigner. Long live our alien masters!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eInvasion of the Spirit People\u003c\/em\u003e, Juan Pablo Villalobos's fifth novel, adopts a gentle, fable-like tone, approaching the problem of racism from the perspective that any position as idiotic as xenophobia can only be fought with sheer absurdity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn an unnamed city, occupied by an unnamed world power, an immigrant named Gastón makes his living selling exotic vegetables to eateries around the city. He has a dog called Kitten, who's been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and a good friend called Max, who's in a deep depression after being forced to close his restaurant. Meanwhile, Max's son, Pol, a scientist away on a scientific expedition into the Arctic, can offer little support.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGastón begins a quest, or rather three: he must search for someone to put his dog to sleep humanely; he must find a space in which to open a new restaurant with Max; and he must look into the truth behind the news being sent back by Pol: that human life may be the by-product of an ancient alien attempt at colonisation... and those aliens might intend to make a return visit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47486135632108,"sku":"9781913505363","price":34.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/979d91f696e36ac0abb5a032c5834075.jpg?v=1775780317"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/juan-pablo-villalobos.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}