The movie, based on Carmen Rico Godoy's novel with the same name, is featured this week at the Días de Cine Reading Club. This initiative is sponsored by the America Reads Spanish program and the American Library Association to promote literature and the Spanish language in American libraries and universities.

This week, Días de Cine Reading Club presents “Cómo ser infeliz y disfrutarlo” with Carmen Maura, Antonio Resines and Asunción Balaguer, directed by Enrique Urbizu. The movie will be available until May 6th to the participating libraries and universities.

In “La soledad era ésto”, Carmen, a newspaper journalist, is made a widow early in the story when her husband has a massive heart attack and dies. Coping with her loss, she goes on with the job, which is about the only source of satisfaction in her life. To make matters worse, she finds out that her only daughter, Marta, is pregnant. Being practical, she has the young woman return to Madrid to be near her. Her old home is full of memories that she wants to get rid of, so she begins searching for an penthouse overlooking the Retiro Park, something that proves to be a difficult task for her. The men she meets are not exactly what she was hoping for, as they don’t compare with the dead husband. Enrique Urbizu directed this Spanish film based on a book that might be an autobiography of Carmen Rico Godoy, a newspaper woman with a column in one of Spain’s leading newspapers.

The Días de Cine Reading Club is an initiative sponsored by the America Reads Spanish program and the American Library Association to promote literature and the Spanish language in American libraries and universities. This initiative involves free viewing of cinematic adaptations of literary works included in the online collection of titles.

The program is offered at no cost to U.S. libraries and universities. To participate, libraries simply have to registerand send the form provided at the America Reads Spanish website. They will receive an exclusive user password via e-mail. This password will allow them to enjoy, legally and free of charge, public viewing of the movie of the week via online streaming at a library or university. All it requires is a computer and internet connection. For more information click here or send an email to Miami@comercio.mineco.es.