Conversation In The Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa. New York. 1984. Harper & Row. 601 pages. hardcover. 0060145021. (original title: Conversacion en La Catedral).

FROM THE PUBLISHER -

   A powerful novel of political and personal greed, corruption, and terror set in modem Peru, by the author of The Green House and THE TIME OF THE HERO. Under the rule of the unseen military dictator General Odria. suspicion, paranoia, and blackmail become the realities of public and private life. Lust and violence are commodities for the rich and powerful, and for the people there is anonymity or recognition, real or imagined, as enemies of the public order. Through the doors of The Cathedral, a bar and brothel in Lima, come the participants - escapees, and ordinary citizens of a city caught in a web of rottenness and fear. For Santiago Zavala, journalist and son of a rich and famous politician, and the former chauffeur Ambrosio, a chance meeting begins a narrative of events that encompasses their lives and those of many others. Full of vivid scenes and characters, this is an extraordinary panorama of city life during a dictator’s regime and the story of its incipient decay and breakdown. Conversation in The Cathedral is a frightening and impressive portrait of political evil by a leading contemporary Latin American novelist. Written on many levels and brilliantly translated by Gregory Rabassa, it appropriately takes its epigraph from Balzac ‘the novel is the private history of nations.’

Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010. Peru's foremost writer, he has been awarded the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's most distinguished literary honor, and the Jerusalem Prize. His many works include THE FEAST OF THE GOAT, THE BAD GIRL, AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER, THE WAR OF THE END OF THE WORLD, and THE STORYTELLER. He lives in London. 

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