Juan Jose Millás
With almost five decades of profession, the Spanish writer and journalist Juan José Millás is a consecrated man of letters. Currently, it has more than 35 publications, including novels, stories, articles and reports. The Valencian stood out in the literary field in the 80s through his fourth book: Wet paper (1983). This police narrative was written at the request of a publisher of juvenile literature, and since its premiere it had a great receptivity.
It was after the success of this novel that Millás ventured into journalism, a task that he exercises with his own original style. He has been awarded a dozen times with important prizes, both literary and journalistic. Their two doctorates Honorary, awarded by the Universities of Turin and Oviedo.
Biography
Juan Jose Millas Garcia was born in Valencia (Spain) on January 31, 1946. He comes from a large family, he is the fourth of nine siblings. His parents were Vicente Millás Mossi —inventor and industrial technician— and Cándida García. He spent his early years in his hometown, until in 1.952 he moved with his family to Prosperity, a popular town of Madrid.
Studies and work experience
He studied at night, since during the day he worked as a temporary worker in a savings bank. For three years studied Philosophy and Letters —In the specialty of Pure Philosophy— at the Complutense University of Madrid, which he left some time later. At the beginning of the decade of the 70 ' he joined the Iberia press office.
Literary race
In his beginnings he flirted with poetry, although he finally ended up surrendering to the charm of narrative. In 1975, he published the novel: Cerberus are the shadows; with which he received the Sésamo award that same year and achieved great recognition from literary critics. In the next six years he presented two works: Vision of the drowned (1977) and The empty garden (1981)
In 1983, he published his best known book: Wet paper, a novel that caught thousands of readers. After that success, in the last 3 decades has strengthened his literary career with 16 narratives that have made him worthy of important awards. Among the texts, the following stand out: Two women in Prague (2002), with which he won the Primavera award; Y The world (2007), winner of the Planeta (2007) and National Narrative (2008) awards.
Journalistic practice
At the beginning of the 90 ', began his journalistic work in the newspaper El País and other Spanish media. It has been characterized by writing columns called "articles", in which he transforms a common event into something fantastic. In this field he has been honored on multiple occasions, among his prizes stand out: Mariano de Cavia Journalism (1999) and Don Quixote of Journalism (2009).
Novels by Juan José Millás
- Cerberus are the shadows (1975)
- Vision of the drowned (1977)
- The empty garden (1981)
- Wet paper (1983)
- Dead letter (1984)
- The disorder of your name (1987)
- Loneliness was this (1990)
- Back home (1990)
- Fool, dead, bastard and invisible (1995)
- Alphabetical order (1998)
- Don't look under the bed (1999)
- Two women in Prague (2002)
- Laura and Julio (2006)
- The world (2007)
- What I know about the little men (2010)
- The crazy woman (2014)
- From the shadows (2016)
- My true story (2017)
- Let no one sleep (2018)
- Life at times (2019)
Synopsis of some books by Juan José Millás
Wet paper (1983)
Journalist Manolo Urbina initiates an investigation into the "suicide" of his old friend Louis mary, Ya que suspect that he was murdered. Throughout this journey, he simultaneously documents what happened in a novel, as a backup in case something happened to him. Two important women in the life of the deceased —Teresa and Carolina— will help Manolo during the investigations.
In search of clues, Teresa finds a briefcase with money and compromising documents, which involve a pharmacist. Everything begins to fall apart when Inspector Cárdenas takes the reins of the process. This officer will discover one of the fundamental pieces to solve the case in the blink of an eye, with a surprising and incredible outcome.
Two women in Prague (2002)
En la search of someone who writes his biography, Luz Acaso take a newspaper and bumps into the name of a famous young writer. Already decided - full of enigmas -, she goes to the author's literary office to make such a request; he receives it and accepts it. Álvaro Abril (the writer), for his part, finds himself in an internal struggle: despite the fact that his first book catapulted him to success, the perennial suspicion of being an adopted son has not let him be happy.
At the interview de Luz with Álvaro, she narrates facts of her life that seem taken from scenes from a fictional movie. While the gatherings between the two go by, the nexus grows due to the constant coincidences. In addition, several characters join the plot, among them, María José, a friend of Luz who has a proposal for Álvaro.
With the turning of the pages a bunch of mysteries, truths, deceptions and a lot of fantasy begin to emerge ... These elements surround everyone during the plot, which takes place in an absorbing development until an end is unleashed that hardly anyone expects.
The world (2007)
A boy —Juan José— recounts his childhood from his perspective; his birth, the first years in Valencia and the transfer from his hometown to the city of Madrid. Describes his experiences in a post-war environment, dotted with joys and sorrows, in a cold climate, with new friendships and unrequited loves. A reality to which he had to get used to, good or bad.
As he grows up, he narrates how he loses people important to him And all those gray moments hard to cope with The absence of loved ones determines adaptation of the already adolescent, who tries to live in the best way. The story is marked by several moments of its existence — of how a child gradually becomes a man — between reality and imagination.
The crazy woman (2014)
Julia is a fishmonger who decides to learn more about linguistics, esto due to which she is obsessed with her boss Roberto, who is a philologist. He instructs himself in a self-taught way, and in this process characters come to mind with whom he dialogues in search of solutions. In addition to working at the fishmonger, Julia cares for Emerita, who is terminally ill determined to die.
One day while the young woman was attending Emerita, is visited by Millás, a journalist who wishes to report on euthanasia. Upon getting to know Julia in more detail, he immediately proposes to write his story. Causally, the man went through a creative block. In a drastic way, everything changes ...: Emerita unveils an enigma, and the reporter is surprised.
Life at times (2019)
Juanjo Millas is a writer who recounts 194 weeks of his life, based on his diary entries. There he exposes his personality, something insightful, cheerful, sarcastic and somber; in a delimited area between sanity and paranoia. Likewise, he describes some experiences, such as visits to his psychoanalyst, his hobbies, treatments and the solitary daily life of an observant man.
Each little chapter narrates peculiar moments, with strange and interesting situations. Se present simple scenarios: like your literary traffic jams, household problems, or your car breakdown. It is a fictional story that may or may not have some reality, about a normal person, but somewhat obsessive and with extravagant visions.
