"Even if a guy is destroying me, I know I can use him in a book."

Barcelona"The presenter is much popu"If not, there wouldn't be so many of us today," one of the more than two hundred people who had filled the garden of the La Central bookstore in Raval to the brim said to his companion. "Do you mean they don't come for Milena? She's also very famous," replied the woman crowded next to her. A few minutes late, Milena Busquets and the singer Rigoberta Bandini - alias of Paula Ribó - appeared to chat for a while about The sweet existence (Amsterdam in Catalan and Anagrama in Spanish), the new book by the writer who became a phenomenon thanks to This will also happen (2015), translated into more than twenty languages, in which she spied on a group of holidaymakers from Cadaqués through a narrative voice somewhere between frivolous and transcendent, sharing a good part of the author's life experiences.

"It's a pleasure to have two stars as big as you," commented editor Joan Carles Girbés on behalf of Amsterdam.We do it in Spanish, right?", said Busquets right at the start of the event. And this was the language in which the presentation was made, although most of the audience's interventions were in Catalan. "We are very nervous," admitted Bandini. "When Milena asked me to present her book, I said the most resounding yes of my life. I would never have imagined this." crossover, but I read it from the beginning."

"The sweet existence arose from This will also happen and the filming of the movie adaptation," explained Busquets, who continues to delve deeper into autofiction. "Even if a guy is destroying me, I know I can use it in a book," she said. "And I don't know if it's a form of revenge." Busquets has acknowledged that she has sometimes manipulated some people for literary purposes. "Aside from this, I can be honest and sincere, and try to live my life," she continued. The sweet existence The author's mother, the editor Esther Tusquets, once again plays a prominent role. "During the filming of the movie, I came to see the mother embodied in the actress Susi Sánchez, but I'm perfectly aware that she's been dead for fourteen years," said Busquets. "The things that end up appearing in my literature are small: that's what motivates me."

"When I write, it's always with music in mind, with a piano or guitar nearby," acknowledged Bandini. "A writer must have a bit of a badass side, but she must also be very naive," asserted Busquets. "If you only work with your head, the book won't work. The same happens if you only put your heart into it."

Among the mutual influences that Busquets and Bandini have cited is Amélie Nothomb. "It amazes me that he writes in an office at his publishing house, that he writes three novels a year and only publishes one. I couldn't help but publish them all," said Busquets. Karl Ove Knausgård, on the other hand, was criticized: "I stopped reading him when he described pushing his baby in a pram as heroic." There have also been unkind words about the adaptation of This will also happen, which will be released in theaters on May 9. Busquets has avoided commenting on the result, but said: "Look how handsome that actor is," he admitted about Carlos Cuevas, "and they managed the feat of making him ugly!"