The Nubian Prince
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moises Froissard's job is "to save lives." At least, that's what he tries to believe throughout El Mundo columnist Bonilla's bittersweet fourth novel. While there may be a grain of truth in his proclamation, the reality of Moises's occupation is less noble: he's a "scout" for secretive, exclusive Club Olympus, a supplier of beautiful and expensive prostitutes to the rich and famous. As a scout, Moises travels to exotic (and, usually, poverty-stricken) locales in search of beautiful men, women and children willing to become "models" for the club as a way out of their grim circumstances. While proud of his growing list of recruits, Moises is guarded about his job and uses his travels to isolate himself from his troubled family. Though the fleeting emotional attachments he sometimes forms with the "pieces" he scouts for the club violate the cardinal rule of his employment, it doesn't become a problem until Moises's first recruit, Luzmila, becomes a scout. When the two are pitted against each other in a race to recruit the "Nubian Prince," a handsome African coveted by an obsessed client, Luzmila relishes the opportunity to upstage Moises as revenge for recruiting her, and Moises is forced to confront his growing distaste for the job.
