In Praise of Stepmother.

VARGAS LLOSA, Mario.

$125.00

Item Number: 142071

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990.

First edition of this novel by “one of the master storytellers of our time” (Denis Lynn Heyck, Chicago Tribune Book World). Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed by Mario Vargas Llosa on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Cynthia Krupat. Translated by Helen Lane.

With meticulous observation and the seductive skill of a great storyteller, Vargas Llosa lures the reader into the shadow of perversion that, little by little, darkens the extraordinary happiness and harmony of his characters. The mysterious nature of happiness and above all, the corrupting power of innocence are the themes that underlie these pages, and the author has perfectly met the demands of the erotic novel, never dimming for an instant the fine poetic polish of his writing. “Powerful, incendiary...Vargas Llosa is a master storyteller" (The Washington Post Book World).