This image is the cover for the book Down the Rabbit Hole

Down the Rabbit Hole

Through a childs eyes, the Mexican author's debut novella “brilliantly encapsulates the chaos of a lawless existence . . . under the sway of drug lords” (Lucy Popescu, The Independent, UK).

Tochtli lives in a palace. He loves hats, samurai, guillotines, and dictionaries. What he wants more than anything right now is a new pet for his private zoo: a pygmy hippopotamus from Liberia. 

But Tochtli is a child whose father is a drug baron on the verge of taking over a powerful cartel. His palacial home is a luxury hideout that he shares with hit men, prostitutes, dealers, servants, and the odd corrupt politician or two. 

Longlisted for The Guardian First Book Award, Down the Rabbit Hole, a masterful and darkly comic first novel, is the chronicle of a delirious journey to grant a child’s wish.

“A brief and majestic debut.” —Matias Nespolo, El Mundo

Juan Pablo Villalobos

Juan Pablo Villalobos was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1973. He studied marketing and Spanish literature. He has researched such diverse topics as the influence of the avant-garde on the work of César Aira and the flexibility of pipelines for electrical installations. He lives in Barcelona, Spain.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux