The Dog and the Fever

A proto-modern burlesque novel from Spain’s Golden Age, translated by William Carlos Williams and his mother

"Far more ‘modern’ than ever Hemingway or even Gertie ever thought of being" is how William Carlos Williams described The Dog and the Fever: "The first recorded use of the pure image to tell a story" and "hot as hell besides." Williams translated this Spanish novella, originally published in 1625, with the help of Raquel Hélène Williams, his Puerto Rican mother. Williams recalled that its biting satire — targeting the corruption of the court, the church, and society and driven by comic double entendre — made them laugh out loud and amused them tremendously as they worked on the translation. The editor, Jonathan Cohen, contributes a surprising introduction with details about Williams as translator and the novella’s author Pedro Espinosa, setting the stage for this charming tale from the Spanish Golden Age.