A Fish in the Water - Softcover

Vargas Llosa, Mario

4.01

1,250 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140248900 ISBN 13: 9780140248906

Publisher: Penguin, 1995

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In 1990, Mario Vargas Llosa decided to run for the presidency of his native Peru, campaigning on a platform of economic reform and stringent counterterrorism against the Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path. His campaign against (and ultimate defeat by) Alberto Fujimori was the stuff of international headlines, transforming an eminent writer into a politician of world stature. A Fish in the Water is Vargas Llosa's disarming and deeply absorbing response to that profoundly heady - and troubling - experience. This is a twofold book: a memoir of the formation of one of Latin America's most celebrated artists, from his birth in Arequipa in 1936 to his departure for Europe to make his career as a writer, and, in alternating chapters, the story of Vargas Llosa's organization of the reform movement which culminated in his bid for the presidency. In this richly personal work, Vargas Llosa evokes the experiences which gave rise to his fiction, including his stay at the Leoncio Prado Military Academy, which was the basis of his first book, The Time of the Hero, and his desperate attempts to marry while still a minor, as recounted in hilarious detail in Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. In parallel, he describes the social, literary, and political influences that led him to enter the political arena as a crusader for modern democracy and a free-market economy. Offering an unexpectedly intimate look at how fact becomes fiction and at the formation of a courageous and original politician and thinker. A Fish in the Water reveals Mario Vargas Llosa as a world figure whose real story is just beginning.

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Review:

"[Mario Vargas Llosa] has published a fascinating and often bitter memoir . . . enlightening." --"The New York Times"

"["A Fish in the Water"] offers a convincing self-portrait of a political innocent sinking under a tide of democratic absurdities. . . . An often funny and cautionary tale." "--Time ""An absorbing picture not only of the growth of a rapaciously inquisitive intellectual, but a fascinating portrait of Peru over the past thirty years, with many of the same qualities--intelligence, an eye for detail, bursts of humour and anger--that are so memorable in [Vargas Llosa's] novels . . . one cannot help but admire [his] courage."" --The Independent" (London) "This volume of memoirs will not disappoint fans of his novels (among whom I count myself). . . . Vargas Llosa emerges here as the brilliant writer he has always been, with insights into politics as deep as those he has previously shown about other forms of human endeavor." --Elliott Abrams, "The""American Spectator" "A dazzling performance, one of [Vargas Llosa's] very best books, full of curious, even surreal, events . . . I urge all who read this review to buy it immediately. They may think I have understated its merits." --Hugh Thomas, " National Review" "Intriguing . . . Reads like the diary of an astute social critic who, for reasons he does not fully comprehend, has also become the protagonist of the events he observes." --Arturo J. Cruz, Jr., "Commentary"

"An artful political and literary memoir . . . Vargas Llosa's narrative skill and novelist's eye animate the unfamiliar politics, people, and culture of Peru. Essential political as well as literary reading."" --Kirkus Reviews"

[Mario Vargas Llosa] has published a fascinating and often bitter memoir . . . enlightening. "The New York Times"

["A Fish in the Water"] offers a convincing self-portrait of a political innocent sinking under a tide of democratic absurdities. . . . An often funny and cautionary tale. "Time"

An absorbing picture not only of the growth of a rapaciously inquisitive intellectual, but a fascinating portrait of Peru over the past thirty years, with many of the same qualities--intelligence, an eye for detail, bursts of humour and anger--that are so memorable in [Vargas Llosa's] novels . . . one cannot help but admire [his] courage. "The Independent (London)"

This volume of memoirs will not disappoint fans of his novels (among whom I count myself). . . . Vargas Llosa emerges here as the brilliant writer he has always been, with insights into politics as deep as those he has previously shown about other forms of human endeavor. "Elliott Abrams, The American Spectator"

A dazzling performance, one of [Vargas Llosa's] very best books, full of curious, even surreal, events . . . I urge all who read this review to buy it immediately. They may think I have understated its merits. "Hugh Thomas, National Review"

Intriguing . . . Reads like the diary of an astute social critic who, for reasons he does not fully comprehend, has also become the protagonist of the events he observes. "Arturo J. Cruz, Jr., Commentary"

An artful political and literary memoir . . . Vargas Llosa's narrative skill and novelist's eye animate the unfamiliar politics, people, and culture of Peru. Essential political as well as literary reading. "Kirkus Reviews""

[Mario Vargas Llosa] has published a fascinating and often bitter memoir . . . enlightening. The New York Times

[A Fish in the Water] offers a convincing self-portrait of a political innocent sinking under a tide of democratic absurdities. . . . An often funny and cautionary tale. Time

Intriguing . . . Reads like the diary of an astute social critic who, for reasons he does not fully comprehend, has also become the protagonist of the events he observes. Arturo J. Cruz, Jr., Commentary

"[Mario Vargas Llosa] has published a fascinating and often bitter memoir . . . enlightening." --The New York Times

"[A Fish in the Water] offers a convincing self-portrait of a political innocent sinking under a tide of democratic absurdities. . . . An often funny and cautionary tale." --Time

"An absorbing picture not only of the growth of a rapaciously inquisitive intellectual, but a fascinating portrait of Peru over the past thirty years, with many of the same qualities--intelligence, an eye for detail, bursts of humour and anger--that are so memorable in [Vargas Llosa's] novels . . . one cannot help but admire [his] courage." --The Independent (London)

"This volume of memoirs will not disappoint fans of his novels (among whom I count myself). . . . Vargas Llosa emerges here as the brilliant writer he has always been, with insights into politics as deep as those he has previously shown about other forms of human endeavor." --Elliott Abrams, The American Spectator

"A dazzling performance, one of [Vargas Llosa's] very best books, full of curious, even surreal, events . . . I urge all who read this review to buy it immediately. They may think I have understated its merits." --Hugh Thomas, National Review

"Intriguing . . . Reads like the diary of an astute social critic who, for reasons he does not fully comprehend, has also become the protagonist of the events he observes." --Arturo J. Cruz, Jr., Commentary

About the Author:

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." 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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