"Con gran habilidad narrativa, Villalobos hace que parezca cuento una narración del horror. Con un humor y ligereza ejemplares, la violencia es descrita sin aspavientos, sin desgarraduras, sin contexto... Fiesta en la madriguera es una magnífica primera novela." Fernando García Ramírez, Letras Libres

"Showing how a child absorbs violence without awareness that something is wrong is a tricky endeavor. Mr. Villalobos nails it." Susannah Meadows, The New York Times

"Their secluded existence in a palace in the middle of nowhere accounts for Tochtli’s isolation, as well as for his imagination and his gravity, the spellbinding combination of which makes this tiny debut novel so wonderful. To write convincingly in the voice of a child, particularly such an odd child, is difficult. Yet in Villalobos’s exceptional rendering, Tochtli’s fascination with the decapitated royalty of the French Revolution and with proving himself macho in front of his father mix perfectly. The voice never feels overwrought with would-be childlike quirks, nor does it ever read like a convenient lens through which to view an adult world. The cadence of the prose and the vulnerability of the boy create a devastating story." Publishers Weekly (starred review).

"A pint-size novel about innocence, beastliness and a child learning the lingo in a drug wonderland. Funny, convincing, appalling, it’s a punch-packer for one so small." Ali Smith, Book of the Year in The Daily Telegraph

“Un ejercicio deslumbrante y perturbador... Fiesta en la madriguera bien puede convertirse en un indiscutible clásico del género. Una novela que nos rompe el corazón y nos invita tanto a la carcajada como a la inevitable reflexión frente a un subtexto político de implacable actualidad y pertinencia.” Ricardo García Mainou, El Economista

"Es klänge sehr seriös, nun zu schreiben, [seine] Lakonie sei ausschlaggebend, sich in diesen Buch zu verlieben." Maren Keller, Der Spiegel

“Una demoledora ópera prima... Un breve y magistral debut que convierte la novela de narcos en virtuosismo narrativo.” Matías Néspolo, El Mundo.

"Un court roman d’une folle originalité qui glace les sangs". VSD.

"That rarest of animals, a book that is, to all intents and purposes, perfect." Sarah Churchwell, Book of the Year in The New Statesman

“Algunos podrán considerar que la escritura de una novela cómica sobre el pozo de violencia y terror en el que parece haber caído irremediablemente México es una frivolidad, pero Fiesta en la madriguera demuestra que hay en la comicidad una potencia subversiva a la que todo escritor puede recurrir.” Patricio Pron, El Boomerang

"If you’re going to have an imprisoned child narrate a novel, then not so much as a word should be out of place. There are no such slips in Juan Pablo Villalobos’s debut novella. We have here a control over the material which is so tight it is almost claustrophobic. [...] This is a novel about failing to understand the bigger picture, and in its absence we can see it more clearly." Nicholas Lezard, Choice of the Week, The Guardian

“El autor logra construir un discurso infantil lo suficientemente depurado, mínimo, que hace las veces de esta pequeña herramienta destinada a desarmar secretos, la mejor crítica a la actualidad política mexicana, latinoamericana, en líneas generales”. Fernando Bogado, Radar Libros

"The cumulative parodic effect is chillingly powerful." Edward King, Sunday Times

"As vozes que norteiam o livro (a do protagonista, a do discurso) seduzem com uma capacidade hipnótica e magnética que, em contrapartida, estimula um exercício que enaltece a participação ativa do leitor." Danubio Torres, O Estado de São Paulo

"Juan Pablo Villalobos brilliantly encapsulates the chaos of a lawless existence in which, under the sway of drug lords, anything might happen and everything goes. [...] Down the Rabbit Hole is an astonishing debut from Villalobos." Lucy Popescu, The Independent

"E la comicità ingenua, feroce e dolorosa che lo attraversa non è l'ultimo dei pregi di un romanzo all'apparenza semplice, ma quanto mai sofisticato: ridere, si sa, è una forma di denuncia sovversiva, e non esclude l'indignazione, né la buona letteratura." Francesca Lazzarato, Il Manifesto

Crédito de la foto: Ioana Schiau (2013)