Few writers from Peru have achieved the literary status and international recognition of Mario Vargas Llosa. A writer of many talents, Vargas Llosa is the author of several books that include novels, short stories, plays, literary criticism, memoirs, and a prolific production of journalistic writings. Never afraid of intellectual controversy, he has always been outspoken on Latin-American cultural and political issues. Vargas Llosa's political stands have ranged from defending socialism and the Cuban revolution in the 1960s to embracing neoliberal economic thought and free-market economies in the 1980s. But in spite of his recent involvement in professional politics, literature remains his first passion, and it is in the art of storytelling where his talent has shone the most.

With few exceptions, Peruvian society has always been at the center of Vargas Llosa's literary universe. A country of enormous contrasts, Peru encompasses many racial backgrounds--a ruling white class, a...