Las «locas» de postín y otros cuentos

Alvaro Retana (1890-1970), dubbed “the most handsome novelist in the world,” was a flamboyant and transgressive figure who epitomized the “sicalíptica” culture of early 20th-century Madrid. His short novels—Las «locas» de postín (1919), Los ambiguos (1922), Lolita buscadora de emociones (1923), and El tonto (1925)—offer a window into a popular, erotic, irreverent, and imaginative underworld often ignored by mainstream literary history.

This collection showcases Retana’s unique literary style, blending **_roman à clef_** with sharp social commentary on themes of sexual ambiguity, gender performance, and the changing urban landscape. His works celebrate a liberated, hedonistic lifestyle, featuring audacious characters like flamboyant transvestites, "guayabos" (effeminate young men), and "tobilleras" (precocious flirts) who challenge the rigid moral codes of Restoration Spain. Retana’s biography, as extravagant as his fiction, includes arrests, imprisonment under Franco’s regime for "pornographic writing," and a defiant wit that shines through his posthumous literary testament.

Beyond the titillation, Retana’s novels provide a invaluable sociological document, reflecting a vibrant counter-culture that embraced sexual freedom, fashion, drugs, and a cosmopolitan modernity. This edition highlights his role as a pioneer in Spanish queer literature, presenting an alternative and vital perspective on the _fin de siècle_ and early 20th-century aesthetic renewal in Spain.