La Superba

Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (b. 1968), a classicist by training, made his literary debut with a poetry collection in 1999 that was an homage to the experimental poetry of his great models, Pindar and Lucebert. In the years that followed, in addition to poetry, he has written stage plays, essays, columns, travel accounts, stories, political satires, and four novels written in the spirit of Rabelais. In his other novels, including his debut he has toyed with the idea of world literature and divided the critics between those proclaiming him a genius and those who think him an antiquated stylist. He's a bit of both. La Superba, published in Dutch in 2013, is Pfeijffer's masterpiece of a novel, and was greeted with unanimous praise upon publication, including winning the Libris Literatuurprijs, the Netherlands' most prestigious literary award, and the Tzum Prize, awarded for "the most beautiful sentence of the year," which he has now won twice. His most recent poetry collection, Idyllen, published in 2015, became the first single work of poetry to ever win in the grand slam of the three major Dutch poetry awards--the VSB, Jan Campert, and Awater. Michele Hutchison (1972) lives in Amsterdam and translates from Dutch and French. She has translated Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Joris Luyendijk, Simone van der Vlugt, Esther Gerritsen and Pierre Bayard, alongside a number of children's books, graphic novels and poems. She also works as an editor and blogger.

"Pfeijffer's prose shocks and disturbs, and the reader both rejects what he says and yearns to hear more... While the plot itself wanders, three predominant themes emerge: sexual identity, storytelling, and immigration, each a catalyst for transformation... The book asks readers to reconsider the fragility of their own lives and identities and how easily they can be tested by mere relocation. It's a sympathetic approach to the hidden struggles that immigrants of all backgrounds in Europe face, and a call to be more open and receptive to those on the outskirts of society -- after all, it could easily be you." -- Alina Cohen, Los Angeles Review of Books "Abundantly rich in provocative thought." -- Anna Paterson, World Literature Today "La Superba offers an exotic form of chaos and tragedy, and an extremely truthful image of old Italian life in a postmodern city." -- Anna Alden, Three Percent "If Italo Calvino decided to make one of his invisible cities visible, the result might look something like Pfeijffer's Genoa: rooted in the real world of Europe in the age of mass migration, but abstract and mythic enough that the legendary Genoese travelers -- Columbus, the Ostrogoths -- could still find their way through its labyrinthine streets." -- Benjamin Moser, author of Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector "Tragedy and comedy, life and death, sex and love--these are just a few of the themes explored by Pfeijffer in his wise, brave, gripping novel." -- Willard Manus, Lively Arts "Thoroughly compelling and lyrical...The stories related throughout La Superba are attention-grabbing and entertaining, sometimes surreal, and at times downright grotesque. But while flirting with the obscene, the novel's rawness also manages to strike a sympathetic chord." -- Lindsay Semel, Asymptote "Part travelogue and part migrant novel, this story about down-on-their-luck fortune-seekers and a quest to find 'the most beautiful girl in Genoa' is larger-than-life--but, as the author points out, exaggeration doesn't mean that it's untrue." -- Susie Rodarme, Book Riot (7 Small Press Books to Read in April) "Deranged and hilarious...With a raucous style and barbed wit." -- Peter Simek, D Magazine "I love La Superba! No wonder the Dutch author and narrator have both relocated south to Genoa, the city called La Superba. This book tells the amazing, hilarious, sad and pathetic story of modern Europe. Immigration, great beauty, worse ugliness, history, culture, life all figure here. Thank you, Deep Vellum, for bringing this masterpiece to readers here in 'La Merica.'" -- Lynn, Valley Bookseller (Stillwater, MN) "An enjoyable--and sometimes very funny--ride. Pfeijffer's style is easy-going, but the poet in him remains attentive to language throughout: for all the casual feel of the novel, it's also a carefully, even precisely written one. Good fun." -- Michael Orthofer, The Complete Review "Pfeijffer's self-deprecating humor and moments of lyricism make La Superba a gem." -- Rachel Cordasco, Bookishly Witty "A pocket edition of Dante's Inferno." -- Dutch Foundation for Literature "An important novel with universal appeal." -- Libris Literature Prize jury report "An ode to the imagination."-- NRC Handelsblad "Pfeijffer's enthusiasm about the wonders of the imagination is infectious and boundless." -- De Volkskrant