The Discreet Hero: A Novel - Hardcover

Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat." He has been awarded the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's most distinguished literary honor. His many works include The Feast of the Goat, The Bad Girl, and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.
One of our most celebrated translators of literature in Spanish, Edith Grossman has translated the works of the Nobel laureates Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel García Márquez, among others. Her version of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote is considered the finest translation of the Spanish masterpiece in the English language.

“[A] singular all-star performance . . . that proves that the Peruvian master is still at the top of his narrative game . . . The Discreet Hero is an exquisite concoction, a delicious melodrama of sex and betrayal, love and revenge. But what technique is needed! While real television soap operas are shaggy and plodding, Vargas Llosa's novel is swift, seamless and as structurally symmetrical as a diamond.” ―Marcela Valdes, The Washington Post

“The Discreet Hero, [is] an energetic book with a more straightforward narrative method than almost any other Vargas Llosa . . . [the book] is most memorable for its optimism . . . and for the way in which Don Rigoberto is forced away from his etchings and phonograph records and into the 'sordid warp and woof' of the world he has scorned.” ―Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker

“The book is often funny; you turn the pages with relish; it offers plenty to think about and admire . . . it immerses you in the way you hope any novel will immerse you.” ―Francisco Goldman, The New York Times Book Review

“Irresistible . . . Father-and-son conflict is the theme that connects the two story lines and ensures an unbreakable connection between this fabulously arresting novel and the fortunate reader who steps into its pages. Vargas Llosa [is] a soaring storyteller.” ―Booklist

“Lyrical and witty . . . A vivid tale of fathers and sons, rich and poor, this novel gives the world another reason to celebrate Vargas Llosa.” ―Publishers Weekly

“In the star-studded world of the Latin American novel, Mario Vargas Llosa is a supernova.” ―Raymond Sokolov, The Wall Street Journal on Mario Vargas Llosa