Juan Pablo Villalobos was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1973. He studied marketing and Spanish literature before working as a market researcher as well as writing travel stories and literary and film criticism. He has researched topics as diverse as the influence of the avant-garde on the work of Cesar Aira and the flexibility of pipelines for electrical installations. His books include his Guardian First Book Award-shortlisted debut Down the Rabbit Hole, as well as Quesadillas, I'll Sell You a Dog and I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me. Rosalind Harvey is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, teaches translation at the University of Warwick, has served on the board of the Translators Association and is a founding member and chair of the Emerging Translators Network.
'Invasion of the Spirit People is a celebration of closeness, of friendship . . . It implies a vision of the world that is anti-essentialist and anti-territorial, but is instead inclusive.' Nadal Suau, El Mundo - - -'An extraordinary novel that you can read in one sitting and which confirms Villalobos's place among the great writers of the city. Stories of rootlessness like these are as valuable as a sociological treatise, especially when they let you know that there's always a friend nearby to give you a hand, which is something that never appears in manuals.' Jordi Garrigos, Ara