Quick Facts
Biography
Juan Pablo Villalobos is a Mexican writer and entrepreneur. He is the author of Down the Rabbit Hole (And Other Stories, 2011), which was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2011, and Quesadillas (And Other Stories, 2013).
Life
Villalobos was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1973. He lived in Barcelona, Spain for eight years, before moving to Brazil. In 2014 he moved back to Barcelona.
He studied marketing and Spanish literature. He has worked in market research and published travel stories, as well as literary and film criticism. Villalobos has researched the influence of the avant-garde on the work of César Aira, and the flexibility of pipelines for electrical installations.
Work
Villalobos's first book, Fiesta en la madriguera 21, has been translated into Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Romanian, Dutch and 421 English. Its English translation, Down the Rabbit Hole by Rosalind Harvey, was published in September 2011 by the London publishing house And Other Stories. Down the Rabbit Hole was shortlisted for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award. His second novel, Quesadillas, is also translated by Rosalind Harvey and is set to be published by And Other Stories in 2013.
His latest novel is Te Vendo Un Perro, which is set to be published in English as I’ll Sell You a Dog by And Other Stories in 2016.
Influences
Villalobos has said that his first book was inspired by Nellie Campobello's collection of short stories set during the Mexican revolution, titled Cartridge.
Reviews
In Germany, Villalobos is recognized as an important representative of the so-called 'narco-literature'. His book Fiesta en la madriguera has been called "a disillusioned domestic tale from the dark heartland of Latin American machismo".