Movieland
Ramón Gómez de la Serna
January 17, 2022
ISBN 9780578336817 / Paperback / 192 pages / $13.99

This volume presents the first-ever new edition of the 1930 English translation of Cinélandia, the 1923 novel by proto-surrealist Ramón Gómez de la Serna, translated by Angel Flores. Movieland imagines an idealized and wildly exaggerated Hollywood, one that is stranger and more outlandish than the real thing. As Flores observed, the book "deals with an ideal Hollywood, with a Hollywood more amazing, if that were possible, than the one we know."

"Brilliant satiric fantasy."
— Sioux City Journal

"As a baroque and flippant literary antic . . . the novel is thoroughly satisfactory."
— New York Times

"For a man who has never been in Hollywood, not even the U.S.A., Ramón did well, uncommonly so, by the allegedly fictitious characters of his opus. Each chapter, almost each paragraph, is a complete sparkling little jewel in itself. Synthesized, they become equally sparkling, witty, cynical yet refreshing facets of a larger gem."
— Brooklyn Daily Eagle

"The charming thing about Movieland is not the subject matter, but Ramón's manner of expression. He has a style that is simple and artistic, a directness and an audacious frankness in matters that Americans have been inclined to prohibit from discussion as they today ban alcohol from festive drinks. . . . Movieland is not for general consumption and probably never will be popular. But it is delightfully written, and its interpretation into the English language is unusually well done."
— Sacramento Bee

"The book is a delightful picture of villains, heroes and beauties as the author seems to think they exist in the minds of Americans."
— South Bend Tribune