Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: In Praise of the Stepmother: A Novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, Helen Lane ISBN: 0-312-42130-3 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.82 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: In Praise of Vargas Llosa
Comment: For North Americans and Europeans, In Praise of the Stepmother is no doubt the best known and most controversial of all of Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa's books. Wickedly witty and fun, this is a strange and beautiful little gem and a truly masterful and original piece of erotic storytelling.
Lucrecia, newly married to Lima resident, Don Rigoberto, an older, wealthy collector of erotic paintings, suddenly finds her position jeopardized by her husband's young son, Alfonso. She honestly wants the boy to love her, but at what cost? When Fonchito's hard won affection becomes hopelessly entangled with precocious--and dangerous--desire, the fun certainly begins, but the price, we see, may prove to be all too high.
As the relationship progresses into absurdity during Don Rigoberto's all-too-often absences, Vargas Llosa provides thematic commentary in the form of selections from the Don's art collection, included as full-color reproductions of famous paintings, from the Renaissance to the present day, each accompanied by a story to which the painting is to be an illustration. As the book progresses, so does the parade of paintings, twisting and expanding the concept of erotica.
For a small book, In Praise of the Stepmother has an enormous potential to enthrall and, yes, provoke. You might wonder how anyone could have written a book as good as this one. The only answer, of course, is that it is Vargas Llosa...at his best.
Strangely enough, in South America, it is Vargas Llosa's political novels that cause controversy; in North America, it is the sexual content. The cover of this little gem, Exposure of Luxury by Bronzino, was enough to make the censors want to go to work.
Anyone who loves wickedness, fun, wit or Vargas Llosa with fall in love with this book at the drop of a...stepmother.
Rating: 5
Summary: A CLASSIC OF LIMA
Comment: This is a miraculous, intriguing, daring and unlikely book that compares with Lolita in theme and aftertaste. One is always cautious of the pitfalls of translations, but the sincere erotica of this short novel, combined with its anchoring art references and child-heart, elevates it in a way that you don't notice its foreign origins. Llosa is, of course, a masterful storyteller. He is also audacious, which may be be his lasting relevance. Here, the revelatory title tells but half the story: you have to take the journey with Fonchito to fully enjoy Llosa's sardonic take on the duplicity and ignorance of the human condition. A small classic!
Rating: 3
Summary: Stresses All the Wrong Details
Comment: Once you get past the basic premise -- sex between a 40 year old woman and a very young boy, there's nothing especially shocking, or even interesting, about this short novel.
Despite its brevity, individual scenes are described in far too much detail -- I think we get about a page and a half devoted to someone brushing his teeth, and there are similar scenes in which we learn the intricacies of trimming nose hairs, ear hairs, etc.
And while I was mildly surprised by the twist ending, I wasn't touched by it emotionally or intellectually.
To sum up, I've seldom read a book that left me feeling so uninvolved on so many levels.
 |
Title: The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto by Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman, Mario Vargas Llosa ISBN: 0374223270 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: June, 1998 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
 |
Title: The Storyteller : A Novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, Helen Lane ISBN: 0312420285 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 03 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa, Mario Vargas Llosa ISBN: 0140248927 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Making Waves by Mario Vargas Llosa, Mario Vargas Llosa, John King ISBN: 0140275568 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: July, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta : A Novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, Alfred Mac Adam ISBN: 0374525552 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 24 June, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
