Pedro Páramo

"Pedro Páramo is one of the best novels of Spanish-language literature, and even of literature." --Jorge Luis BorgesPublished with Fundación Juan Rulfo. Juan Preciado makes a promise to his dying mother that he will travel to the town of Comala in search of his father, the titular character. Instead, Juan encounters a ghost town that relays to him the fragmented history of his father's cruel and violent life, and how he led Comala to ruin. Though met with an unwelcome critical reception in the years after its publication, Pedro Páramo has ascended into the canon of Mexican literature and magical realism writ large, thanks in no small part to its star-studded list of devotees. Gabriel García Márquez called it "the most beautiful novel ever written in the Spanish language," while Susan Sontag proclaimed: "The goal of every writer's life is to produce one great book--that is, an enduring work--and that is what Rulfo achieved."Commemorating the 70th edition of its original publication, this jacketed hardback Spanish-language edition of Pedro Páramo includes unmissable archival material, including more than 100 cover designs from translated editions in over 30 languages. A charming black-and-white postcard of Rulfo placed between the pages provides a glimpse into the character and personality of the "father of magical realism."Juan Rulfo (1917-86) was born in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The corpus of his narrative work is his short story collection El llano en llamas, his novella El gallo de oro and the novel Pedro Páramo. He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Language. In 1983 he received the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature and in 1985 he was named Doctor honoris causa by the National Autonomous University of Mexico.