The Nubian Prince

by Juan Bonilla

Translated from the original Spanish by Esther Allen

A cutting, comic odyssey of a hapless hero ensnared by globalization, humanitarian aid, and the international sex trade, from an award-winning young Spanish writer

To save lives and get handsomely paid for it—what job could be more rewarding? Moises Froissard has found the career opportunity of his dreams. After a start as a conventional bleeding heart with an idealistic aid group, he quickly wises up to the harsh reality of a world in which human life is just another product in a competitive marketplace. Now he travels the globe on the trail of illegal immigrants, refugees, and other ordinary souls brought low by war, natural disaster, or economic collapse. Scouting the slums and gutters of the world, Moises’s task is to unearth nature’s most beautiful men, women, and children and save them—for Club Olympus, a top-price international sex club.

Then Moises receives his toughest assignment yet: to find a “Nubian prince,” an African illegal caught fleetingly in the pages of a glossy magazine. The man is so painfully desirable that Club Olympus will sacrifice anything to have him—even Moises himself. Our narrator begins the chase, dazed, prevaricating, self-obsessed, funny, a little cruel, a little sentimental.

The Nubian Prince takes place in a pitiless world where the have-nots will do anything to become haves, while the privileged don’t know what to live for. Hilarious, moving, sexually explosive, and deeply disturbing, this bestselling Spanish novel introduces a new European star.

(From Publisher)

Juan Bonilla was born in Jerez, Spain, in 1966 and is a columnist for El Mundo, the Spanish daily newspaper. He is the author of three novels, four short-story collections, and a children’s book. He was awarded the prestigious Biblioteca Breve Prize for The Nubian Prince.