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 newest 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.
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 03/08/2016
ISBN: 9781250081629
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.90d
