The Discreet Hero

By Mario Vargas Llosa

Book Overview

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

A tale of two cities--Piura and Lima--rocked by scandal, and the disintegrating bonds of loyalty between the generations

Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa's novel follows two fascinating characters whose lives are destined to intersect: neat, endearing Fel cito Yanaqu , a small businessman in Piura, Peru, who finds himself the victim of blackmail; and Ismael Carrera, a successful owner of an insurance company in Lima, who cooks up a plan to avenge himself against the two lazy sons who want him dead.

Fel cito and Ismael are, each in his own way, quiet, discreet rebels: honorable men trying to seize control of their destinies in a social and political climate where all can seem set in stone, predetermined. They are hardly vigilantes, but each is determined to live according to his own personal ideals and desires--which means forcibly rising above the pettiness of their surroundings. The Discreet Hero is also a chance to revisit some of our favorite players from previous Vargas Llosa novels: Sergeant Lituma, Don Rigoberto, Do a Lucrecia, and Fonchito are all here in a prosperous Peru. Vargas Llosa sketches Piura and Lima vividly--and the cities become not merely physical spaces but realms of the imagination populated by his vivid characters.

A novel whose humor and pathos shine through in Edith Grossman's masterly translation, The Discreet Hero is another remarkable achievement from the finest Latin American novelist at work today.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250081629
• ISBN13: 9781250081629
• Release Date: March 2016
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.4"