Pedro Almodóvar

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The Last Dream

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A heady mix of factual and fictitious, befitting of one of cinema’s most imaginative storytellers… [the collection is] bracing, the book serving as an outlet for something Almodóvar can’t express from behind a camera… The Last Dream has its pleasures – some of them lurid, some rather poignant

'The Life and Death of Miguel'...could have been written by Roberto Bolaño at his height... It’s fascinating that in fiction Almodóvar prefers to inhabit [a] historical and often fantastical universe. To judge by The Last Dream, he’s akin to a Spanish Angela Carter, or a cousin to the undersung Argentinian genius Silvina Ocampo. What his films and stories have in common is a vivid melodrama; a preoccupation with motherhood, outsiders and religion

It’s no surprise that Pedro Almodóvar’s The Last Dream is instantly fascinating, brimming with twisting narratives and unforgettable endings—Almodóvar has given us three decades of such stories on the big screen. What’s more surprising, what’s actually thrilling, is witnessing this major artist fully flourish in a totally new medium. The characters feel as vivid and complex as anyone I might call to talk about them. Their resentments fester and erupt. They orbit - clumsily, hilariously, tragically - epiphanic moments of emotional and psychosexual clarity. There’s a Borgesian uncanny braided throughout - like Borges, Almodóvar’s mind seems to be reporting from another world to illuminate, clarify, and challenge our own. This is not auxiliary fiction from a film director; The Last Dream stands alone as a major literary talent’s virtuosic debut

Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!

The stories in The Last Dream are like a kaleidoscope that reflects to you only the finest, most unexpected moments. The delicious blend of truth and fiction drops you intimately, with raw honesty, inside Almodóvar’s heart. I love this book!

Miguel Arteta, director of Beatriz At Dinner

The Last Dream is an inspiring testament to one of cinema’s great creative forces. These stories/ allegories/ dreams/ philosophical riffs and intense personal sketches shimmer with all of the vibrance, humour, provocation and humanity of Almodóvar’s entire body of work. A true delight

Sam Lypsyte, author of the New York Times bestseller The Ask

Like his films…[the short stories] are keenly observed, melodramatically powerful, sad and sardonic…and always spiritually sumptuous

With its intriguing mix of short stories and personal sketches the book is more interesting than the average autobiography… there is much to enjoy in this book

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
A mischievous and genre-spanning story collection from legendary film director Pedro Almodóvar 
 
The Last Dream brings together for the first time twelve unpublished stories from Almodóvar’s personal archive, written between the late sixties and the present day. Delivering a tantalising glimpse into Almodóvar’s world, this wildly inventive collection reflects his most intimate obsessions, as well as his daring evolution as an artist. 
 
Ranging from ‘The Last Dream’ - a beautiful chronicle of the death of Almodóvar’s mother - to a love story between Jesus and Barabbas;, a cult film director out in search of painkillers on a bank holiday weekend, the original story behind the film Bad Education, and a gothic tale of a repentant vampire, these stories delight and surprise. 
 
The Last Dream is a celebration of the relationship between life and art, fiction and reality from an artist unafraid to write about our most intimate moments. It explores desire, mortality and the pain and glory of artistic creation, laced with playful humour and a deep love of literature and culture. 
 
Translated by Frank Wynne 
 
©2024 Pedro Almodóvar (P)2024 Penguin Audio

A wildly inventive story collection from legendary film director Pedro Almodóvar 
 
The Last Dream brings together for the first time twelve unpublished stories from Almodóvar’s personal archive, written between the late sixties and the present day. Both a tantalising glimpse into Almodóvar’s creative mind and a masterclass in how to tell a story, this intimate and mischievous collection reflects Almodóvar’s obsessions and many of the themes of his cinematic work, spanning genres from autofiction to comedy, parody, pastiche and gothic. The title story, ‘The Last Dream’, is a beautiful chronicle of the death of Almodóvar’s mother, and other stories include: a love story between Jesus and Barabbas; a cult film director out in search of painkillers on a bank holiday weekend; the primary version of the film Bad Education; and a gothic tale of a repentant vampire among monks. 
 
In his introduction, Almodóvar writes: ‘I’ve been asked to write my autobiography more than once, and I’ve always refused; it’s also been suggested that I let someone else write my biography, but I have always felt somewhat resistant to the idea of a book entirely about me as an individual. I’ve never kept a diary, and whenever I’ve tried, I’ve never made it to page two; in a sense, then, this book represents something of a paradox. It might be best described as a fragmentary autobiography, incomplete and a little cryptic.’ 
 
A celebration of the relationship between life and art, fiction and reality from an artist unafraid to write about our most intimate moments, these stories explore desire, mortality, loneliness and the pain and glory of artistic creation, laced with playful humour and a deep love of literature and culture.

The Last Dream

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