You Dreamed of Empires
You Dreamed of Empires
paperback
Published:
9 January, 2025
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Description
'An Aztec West Wing' GUARDIAN
'I was so impressed that I'm on my second read' TORREY PETERS
'A triumph' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Glorious' i-D
A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF 2024
A GUARDIAN TOP FIVE TRANSLATED FICTION OF 2024
In 1519, Conquistador Hernán Cortés and his troops ride into the floating city of Tenoxtitlan – today’s Mexico City – in this hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story.
Invited to a ceremonial meal with the steely princess Atotoxtli, sister and wife of the emperor Moctezuma, the Spanish nearly bungle their entrance into the city and its labyrinthine palace. Soon, one of Cortés’s captains, Jazmín Caldera, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed, and wonders at the risks of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire.
Moctezuma himself is at a political, spiritual and physical crossroads, relying on hallucinogens in a quest for any kind of answer from the gods. When Cortés and Moctezuma meet, two worlds, empires, languages, and possible futures collide.
You Dreamed of Empires brings to life Tenoxtitlan at its height – and reimagines its destiny.
It sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream.
Translated by Natasha Wimmer
'A mischievous fantasy' TLS
A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY TOP TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9781529920659 |
| ISBN10 | 1529920655 |
| Number Of Pages | 224 |
| Item Weight | 162 g |
| Product Dimensions | 129 x 198 x 16 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Vintage Publishing |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
I was so impressed with Álvaro Enrigue’s You Dreamed of Empires that I am on my second reread -- Torrey Peters * Guardian *
Parts of the novel play like an Aztec West Wing, taking us deep into the political manoeuvrings of the royal court but blending its particularities with 21st-century psychology. It’s a rich approach that achieves a hallucinatory vividness * Guardian *
Riotously entertaining… Natasha Wimmer brilliantly brings the author’s playfulness and idiomatic humour to life for an English-language readership. The result is a triumph of solemnity-busting erudition and mischievous invention that will delight and titillate * Financial Times *
A mischievous fantasy… Enrigue plunges exuberantly into the revisionist speculation that rehabilitates Indiginous awareness and agency * Times Literary Supplement *
A lively, arresting read – if 2024 brings more novels as original as this one, it will be a good year * The Times *
An eclectic work of exceptional originality * Skinny *
Enrigue’s genius lies in his ability to bring readers close to its tangled knot of priests, mercenaries, warriors and princesses while adding a pinch of biting humor -- Silvia Moreno-Garcia * Los Angeles Times *
Enrigue’s work is marked by an all-consuming attention to historical detail.... He is a preternaturally entertaining and erudite writer who builds alternate worlds from the minutiae. He also seems like he’s having a pretty good time -- Benjamin Russell * New York Times *
Incantatory... Enrigue conjures both court intrigue and city life with grace * The New Yorker *
[S]ublime absurdities... abound in this delirious historical fantasia, which can be said to be many things: funny, ghastly, eye-opening, marvelous and frequently confounding * Wall Street Journal *
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Álvaro Enrigue (Author)
Álvaro Enrigue is a prize-winning Mexican writer whose most recent novel is You Dreamed of Empires. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the London Review of Books, El País, and n+1, among other publications. A former Fellow at the Cullman Center and at Princeton University, he teaches Latin American Literature at Hofstra University and lives with his family in New York City.
Natasha Wimmer (Translator)
Natasha Wimmer’s translations include Álvaro Enrigue’s You Dreamed of Empires and Sudden Death and Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives and 2666. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.