Brief Summary
The Wild Detectives is an independent bookstore, bar and venue in Oak Cliff, Dallas, that encourages community-driven cultural conversations. In 2016 we started publishing a cartoon series on Instagram called 'Reading Quirks' (https://www.instagram.com/readingquirks/) about all those weird things readers do. We wrote the scripts as The Wild Detectives, and our friend –and renown Spanish illustrator– Laura Pacheco (https://laurapacheco.com/), was responsible for the webcomic's art.
As a bookstore, our first hand knowledge of what being crazy about books is all about brings insights full of authenticity and immediacy to the stories, with which any kind of reader finds easy to identify. Laura Pacheco’s adorable cartoons lay out a set of endearing characters, whose flaws and obsessions span between their disarming good nature and their best well meant meanness.
Reading Quirks is a witty and light-hearted ode to the immense pleasure of reading and its resulting byproduct: neurosis.
Bios:
The Wild Detectives
Since owners, Javier García del Moral and Paco Vique, two Spanish engineers, opened its doors in 2014, this small bookstore has hosted over 600 events and featured authors and artists such as Ben Fountain, Leni Zumas, Morgan Parker, Damien Jurado or Bill Callahan, just to mention a few. In 2015, it was selected by American Way (http://thewilddetectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/american_way_feb.pdf), along with Powell’s and other 3 bookstores in the country, as the spearheads of the recent American indie bookstore renaissance. In 2016, they gave a TED talk in Arlington, TX (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boaZV-0EXdE). The same year The Guardian published an interview on them (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/15/interview-with-a-bookstore-the-wild-detectives-uniting-books-and-beer). In 2017 they won 2 Lions in Cannes (International Festival of creativity), and a Facebook global award for their #LitBait campaign promoting reading, which became viral (https://youtu.be/MDpywkGQjtI).
Andrés de la Casa Huertas (author)
Although Andrés (San Sebastián, Spain, 1979) started his career as a journalist –he was press assistant for the Basque social democrats in the Spanish Parliament– he was always more interested in creativity. As graphic designer and art director he’s worked for top international brands, first in Madrid, then also in Dublin and London. He’s currently creative director at The Wild Detectives, a bookstore bar venue in Dallas.
Javier García del Moral (author)
Javier Garcia del Moral (Logroño, Spain, 1978) worked as a civil engineer in places like Spain, Ireland, Middle East and the US. In 2014 he founded The Wild Detectives bookstore along with his longtime friend Paco Vique. He combines his civil engineering work with directing The Wild Detectives bookstore and currently lives in Dallas,Tx
Laura Pacheco (illustrator)
Laura (Almería, Spain, 1984) is a well known Spanish illustrator and cartoonist. She’s the author of several Graphic Novels in Spain, such as Señor Pacheco: agente secreto (¡Caramba!, 2013) and Problemas del primer mundo (Lumen, 2014). Along with her sister, the author Carmen Pacheco, they’ve also published Una semana en familia (¡Caramba!, 2011), Troll Corporation (¡Caramba!, 2018) and Divas de diván (¡Caramba!, 2018).
Reading Quirks is about to be published as a proper print book first in Spain (February 2019), and then here, in USA, sometime around next fall.
