Maliciousness

After The Infatuations, read the complete short stories of Javier Marías, those he considers "accepted and acceptable", collected for the first time. An excellent gateway to his literary universe.

One of the best books of 2012 according to La Vanguardia.

"Given how little I have frequented the noble art of the short story in recent times, it is possible that I will write no more and that what is offered here will end up being the accepted and acceptable entirety of my contribution to the genre."

Javier Marías

An excellent gateway to the Marías universe, Mala índole makes available to the reader, in addition to those that made up Mientras ellas duermen and Cuando fui mortal, several stories previously untraceable, among which stands out the one that gives the book its title, almost a short novel about the amusing and chilling adventures of an old acquaintance, Ruibérriz de Torres, during the filming in Mexico of a movie with Elvis Presley.

Furthermore, mysterious doctors, bodyguards, ghosts, doppelgängers, an aspiring porn actress, a woman and a man murdered by an African spear, a New York butler trapped in an elevator, the adorer of a young woman he constantly films, a mafioso couple fallen from grace, a hitman trying to dissuade those who want to hire him... The world of Javier Marías's short stories is so disturbing and captivating that it barely allows one to look away from them, in a permanent state of enchantment and unease.

Reviews:
"What is outstanding about these stories is the firmness of their narration, the precision and economy of their prose, their mastery of suspense and plot twists [...] This is what writers mean when they talk about craft."
Sara Miller, The Chicago Tribune

"In these stories we can grasp and savor, as in a concentrate, what constitutes the unique spell of Javier Marías's prose."
Jean-Pierre Ressot, La Quinzaine Littéraire

"Marías possesses a rare ability to bewitch the imagination of his readers. He is more than a mere storyteller: he is a manipulator of the soul who can cast his readers into new states of perception. Quite a feat for any writer."
New York Journal of Books

"The short story fits Marías like a glove. This facet of his talent reveals the old and curious kinship between Spanish black humor and Anglo-Saxon caustic irony."
Philippe Nourry, Le Point

"They are fictions intelligent enough to seem simple, devilish enough to seem harmless."
Jerome Boyd Maunsell, The Times

"Worldly, elegant, nonchalant, he uncovers a chilling world of greed, lust, and murder beneath every seemingly innocuous encounter."
John Spurling, Sunday Times

"Intelligent and unsettling... A fascinating mosaic of characters and stories."
The Times

"Javier Marías may well be the greatest novelist on earth [...] He is destined to win the Nobel Prize in Literature at some point, so it's best to make sure one has something to say when that happens."
Benjamin Eastham, The Spectator

"We are before a writer who has perfectly assimilated that technique of the fragment of life, the temporal sequence, bequeathed to us by the great Maupassant, and re-elaborated for modernity by Faulkner himself."
Jesús Ferrer, La Razón

"An excellent opportunity to review his entire body of work, even though in the prologue he comments that he may not return to the genre again, those of us who have enjoyed his stories can only hope that he breaks his word."
Fernando Valls, Babelia