In Praise of the Stepmother

Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian novelist, is a man I'd love to meet. I've read a quite a few of his novels, liked some more than others, of course. My favorite is, I think, not generally a favorite of critics. The Story Teller takes place in the Amazon among a primitive tribe. It explores the importance of the story teller in a simple society. Most of his books are set in Lima or elsewhere in Peru and often have a politics as part of the plot -- after all he actually ran for President of Peru at one point -- but wasn't elected. I think he may have run against Fujimoro and surely could have been a better President.

I've just finished what is really an erotic novella, In Praise of the Stepmother. It was a quick and easy read with somewhat more attention to the husband's bathroom routines that I needed to know. The step-son is an unbelievably angelic child and causes major trouble. Enough of the plot except that it has a nice novelistic twist at the end, almost Jamesian. Llosa is a very handsome man, perhaps a bit older than I ... yes, I would enjoy meeting him.