An important contribution to the still evolving field of 'urban cultural studies,' Henri Lefebvre and the Spanish Urban Experience is the first book to thoroughly apply the French urban philosopher's thoughts on cities to the culture and literature of Spain. Fraser shows how Lefebvre's complex view of the city as a mobile phenomenon is relevant to understanding a variety of Spanish cultural products—from urban plans and short writings on the urban experience during the nineteenth century by Mariano José de Larra, Ramón de Mesonero Ramanos, and Ildefons Cerdà to urban theories, cultural practices and literary fiction of the twentieth by Luis Martín-Santos, Juan José Millás, Juan Goytisolo, and Manuel Delgado Ruiz. He pushes on to interrogate even the appearance of Mediterranean space and Barcelona in recent video games. Working through the direct and indirect resonance of the French philosopher's legacy in Spain, a comprehensive first chapter grounds the reader in the key concepts of Lefebvre's urban theory that are explored throughout the book—his critiques of static space, modern urban planning, knowledge, alienation in everyday life and his emphasis on a method that underscores the importance of movement and rhythm. Fraser compellingly shows how each of these aspects of Lefebvre's work relates to the others, just as he ties together canonical and non-traditional cultural products from Madrid and Barcelona.

"In applying his sharp analysis of Lefebvre's ideas on urban development and everyday life to Spanish modernity, Fraser (College of Charleston) performs a theoretical tour de force. He starts out with a chapter on modern Spain's first critic of urban alienation, Mariano José de Larra. He then sets up Catalan urban planner Ildefons Cerdà's work against Luis Martín-Santos's assessment of Francoist decline in Tiempo de silencio to illustrate the organic metaphor of the city as lived. Fraser looks at the problems faced by contemporary alienated urbanites in Juan José Millás's short stories and finally considers questions of representation (in tourism, photography, and video games) alongside Juan Goytisolo's Señas de identidad. The mind-boggling range of written, visual, and digital cultural material here underscores Fraser's Lefebvrian prioritization of the mobile over the static in everyday life and large-scale social practices in city space....The book's originality, flair, and intelligence cannot be ignored. Fraser has pushed Spanish literary and cultural studies further into the twenty-first century in this inventive rethinking of Spain's major cities and the cultures they engendered. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; general readers." - CHOICE