Mario Vargas Llosa

Mario Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian writer, politician and winner of the Nobel Prize. He is a firm believer of Write What You Know and tends to do the research of the subject he’s writing about.

His critics still debate whether he is a modernist or postmodernist. Better not to get caught in the middle.

Some of his books have been adapted to the big screen, Your Mileage May Vary regarding their quality.

He started being a leftist person, and even supported Castro’s government, before he became disillusioned with his dictatorship. Since then, he has allied with more centre-right politics. He competed for the presidency of his country in the early ‘90s, but was defeated by the Ensemble Darkhorse Alberto Fujimori.

He’s also the guy who said that Mexico “is the perfect dictatorship.” Of course, that was back then in 1990. He also got in a fight with his once-friend Gabriel Garcia Marquez for some reason and they haven’t spoken to each other since then.

His bibliography includes:


 * The Cubs and Other Stories (1959)
 * The Time of the Hero (1963)
 * The Green House (1966)
 * Conversation In The Cathedral (1969)
 * Captain Pantoja and The Special Service (1973)
 * Aunt Julia and The Scriptwriter (1977)
 * The War of the End of The World (1981)
 * The Real Life Of Alejandro Mayta (1984)
 * Who Killed Palomino Morelo? (1986)
 * The Storyteller (1987)
 * In Praise Of The Stepmother (1988)
 * Death In The Andes (1993)
 * Notebooks Of Don Rigoberto (1997)
 * The Feast of the Goat (2000)
 * The Way To Paradise (2003)
 * The Bad Girl (2006)
 * The Dream Of The Celt (2010)

Tropes about him and his work:

 * A Real Man Is a Killer: Don Leonidas’ opinion in “The Challenge”.
 * Busmans Holiday: He has stated that he writes on his vacations.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: “On Sunday”.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: Pichulita Cuéllar in “The Cubs” (it’s the Spanish equivalent of being called Dickie).
 * Groin Attack: “The Cubs”.
 * Hollywood Drowning: Averted in “On Sunday”. Though Rubén still splashes and screams for help, Miguel knows to not let Ruben touch him or they’ll both drown; instead, Miguel takes him by the hair to save him.
 * Honor Before Reason: Don Leonidas and Justo in “The Challenge”.
 * I Want to Be A Real Man
 * Incest Is Relative: He caused a turmoil on his family when he married his uncle’s sister-in-law. This is narrated in Aunt Julia and The Scriptwriter.
 * Knife Fight: “The Challenge”.
 * Only Known By Their Nickname
 * Overprotective Dad: Mario’s father in Aunt Julia, Cuéllar’s father in “The Cubs”.
 * Rated M for Manly
 * Shown His Work
 * Straight Gay: Suspected on Cuéllar in “The Cubs”.
 * Teens Are Monsters: Sometimes played straight, sometimes subverted.
 * Testosterone Poisoning
 * Wild Mass Guessing: Nobody knows why he fought with García Márquez; both of them avoid the issue on purpose.
 * Write What You Know: Some of his work is based on his personal life.