Juan Bas is a professional screenwriter. He worked with Playboy and Penthouse magazines, where he published his first stories. In 1999, his first book, “The Secret Pages of History,” was published, and in 2000, his second, “The Tavern of the Three Monkeys,” was immediately noticed by Spanish critics; in the same year, the book was translated into Portuguese, German, French. “The Tavern of the Three Monkeys (and other stories about poker)” is fourteen short stories, completely different in genre (mystery, gothic horror, esperpento, fantasy, detective, erotica, western, etc.), but united by one common “character” - poker. The game of chance ties together all fourteen plots, since its rules - including, of course, bluffing - are not so different from the rules and laws of life itself. The most amazing thing is that, even if you are completely unfamiliar with poker (the book opens with the rules of the game) or simply do not like card games, this will not in any way affect the perception of the book as a whole - Bas builds his stories so subtly, with wonderful humor and grace exciting stories.