WENCESLAO FERNÁNDEZ FLÓREZ - 4 PESETAS AND A FEVER
Four Pesetas and a Fever I must have been fourteen when a bad case of the flu kept me in bed for days. Whenever the fever subsided, I read to while away the time. My father would bring me novels, some of which I still have—among them Ha entrado un ladrón , by Wenceslao Fernández Flórez (1885–1964), a Spanish journalist and fiction writer much admired in his day. May I urge you to become acquainted with his work— El bosque animado , La casa de la lluvia , Una isla en el mar rojo , La novela número 13 , or El secreto de Barba Azul ? Years later, I would write an article, “ Fernández Flórez: humorismo y tragedia ,” available online, in which I argue for his stature as a serious, tragic fiction writer. Somehow, excellent authors and good books fade from public interest and quietly disappear. Today, among my books, I came upon Ha entrado un ladrón , from Revista literaria Novelas y Cuentos —the very copy my father once bought for four pesetas. If you wish to have a good command of your s...