Mario Vargas Llosa (born 1936) is a Peruvian writer, politician and 2010 Nobel Laureate for Literature. 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.
Some of his books have been adapted to the big screen.
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 Alberto Fujimori. Disheartened by his loss, Vargas Llosa moved to Spain and became a Spanish citizen. (He's now also officially a Spanish nobleman; the King made him a marquis after Vargas Llosa was awarded his Nobel Prize.) That said, he still spends time in Peru.
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 García Márquez for some reason and they never spoke ever again (García Márquez having died in 2014).
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:
- Busman's 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).
- 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”.
- Knife Fight: “The Challenge”.
- Only Known by Their Nickname
- A Real Man Is a Killer: Don Leonidas’ opinion in “The Challenge”.
- Straight Gay: Suspected on Cuéllar in “The Cubs”.
- Teens Are Monsters: Sometimes played straight, sometimes subverted.
- Write What You Know: Some of his work is based on his personal life.
