El Lenguaje de la Pasion = The Language of Passion

Peruvian author Vargas Llosa is one of the most prolific writers of our time; his novels, essays, and journalistic pieces are released in a steady stream, never seeming to suffer in quality. This latest volume collects his columns from the celebrated Spanish daily El Pais between the years 1992 and 2000. In his introduction, he explains that the title of the book is taken from a column that was written in homage to Mexican essayist Octavio Paz, ""not because these texts have been written passionately or belligerently. The truth is that I write in the most dispassionate manner possible."" As expected, he takes on a variety of literary and political topics from the economic theorist George Soros to the painter Frida Kahlo and the cults of Reverend Moon and Scientology. He provides a balanced discussion of the Eli n Gonz lez affair, indicting both Castro and the Miami exile community, and a reflection of Tom s Eloy Martinez's Santa Evita (Saint Evita, Vintage, 1997), a novel about the ""pleasures"" of Argentine necrophilia. The book includes a bibliography, unusual for journalistic collections, and an index testaments to Vargas Llosa's incredibly wide-ranging authority. Recommended for all libraries and bookstores. Ed Morales, Brooklyn, NY