His politics got worse as he got older, but the early works by Mario Vargas Llosa are some of my favorite things I’ve ever read. The green house, the time of the hero (la ciudad y los perros), and conversation in the cathedral.

I recently read The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz and it was excellent.

He’s a relative of the Allende family. He spent his childhood as a refugee after the US installed Pinochet and his family had to flee Chile. Idk why his anti imperialism would shock anyone.