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Roas, David. Tras los límites de lo real: una definición de lo fantástico [Behind the Limits of the Real], Madrid: Páginas de Espuma, 2011. 186 pp. Paperback. ISBN: 9788483930878 8483930870. $18.95.
David Roas has dedicated most of his academic life to defining theories and collecting examples of the fantastic. He has edited academic works such as the critical anthology Teorias de lo fantástico [Theories of the Fantastic] in 2001, the introduction to which is a preliminary, shorter version of the monograph reviewed here. He has also published several anthologies of short stories, such as La realidad oculta: cuentos fantásticos españoles del siglo XX [Hidden Reality: Twentieth-Century Fantastic Short Stories from Spain] in 2008 co-edited with Ana Casas, as well as a collection of his own fantastic short stories, Distorsiones (2010). Presently, he is also directing the Grupo de Estudios de lo Fantástico [Research Team on the Fantastic] at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain), where he is an associate professor.
Hence, it is not surprising that Roas has finally decided to publish his own monograph defining the genre he knows so well. Tras los límites de lo real looks like a short book (just 169 pages) for such a relevant genre; however, its pages are teeming with theories and samples from philosophers, scientists, literary theorists, and from the arts in general. The book is also written with a clear prose that makes its reading accessible to a large audience. In fact, Tras los límites de lo real [Behind the Limits of the Real] was awarded the non-academic Premio Málaga de Ensayo [City of Málaga Essay Award] in Spain in 2011. The book is divided into four major areas of investigation, and each one has a chapter dedicated to it. In addition, there is a fifth chapter concerning to the relationship of the fantastic to Postmodernity, with a special focus on the most relevant Spanish writers of the genre today.
The five chapters are preceded by a very brief Presentación, where Roas discloses from the get go that the book is written to define his own interpretation of the fantastic, defined as "un discurso en relación intertextual constante con ese otro discurso que es la realidad,...