From the author of The Sound of Things Falling, a powerful novel about a legendary political cartoonist.
Javier Mallarino is a living legend. He is his country’s most influential political cartoonist, the conscience of a nation. A man capable of repealing laws, overturning judges’ decisions, and destroying politicians’ careers with his art. His weapons are pen and ink. Those in power fear him and pay him homage.
After four decades of a brilliant career, he’s at the height of his powers. But this all changes when he’s paid an unexpected visit by a young woman who upends his personal history and forces him to reconsider his life and work, questioning his position in the world.
In Reputations, Juan Gabriel Vásquez examines the weight of the past, how a public persona intersects with private histories, the burdens and surprises of memory. In this intimate novel, Vásquez once again brilliantly plumbs universal experiences to create a masterly story, one that reverberates long after you turn the final page.
Praise for Juan Gabriel Vásquez
"Brilliant." —New York Times Book Review "Virtuoso." —Time "Exceptional." —Wall Street Journal "Masterful." —San Francisco Chronicle "Remarkable." —The Washington Post "Exquisite." —NPR
Praise for The Sound of Things Falling
Winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2014 Winner of the Alfaguara Prize 2011 Winner of the Gregor von Rezzori Prize 2013 - See more at:
"[A] Brilliant new novel...gripping...absorbing right to the end. The Sound of Things Falling may be a page turner, but it's also a deep meditation on fate and death." —Edmund White, The New York Times Book Review
"Deeply affecting and closely observed." —Hector Tobar, Los Angeles Times
"Like Bolaño, [Vasquez] is a master stylist and a virtuoso of patient pacing and intricate structure, and he uses the novel for much the same purpose that Bolaño did: to map the deep, cascading damage done to our world by greed and violence and to concede that even love can’t repair it." —Lev Grossman, Time Magazine
“The narrative escalates, the mystery deepens, and the scope of the story widens with each page. This terrific novel draws on Colombia’s tragic history and cycles of violence to tell the story of a troubled man trying to come to grips with the distant forces and events that have shaped his life.” —Khaled Hosseini
"Juan Gabriel Vasquez is a considerable writer. The Sound of Things Falling is an artful, ruminative mystery... And the reader comes away haunted by its strong playing out of an irreversible fate." —E. L. Doctorow
"Compelling…genuine and magnificently written." —Library Journal, STARRED
“Literary magic of one of Latin America’s most talented novelists…a masterpiece.” —Booklist, STARRED
“An exploration in the ways in which stories profoundly impact our lives.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED
“Languid existential noir, one that may put you in mind of Paul Auster.” —Dwight Garner, New York Times
"If you only read one book this month..." —Esquire
"Razor-sharp" —O, the Oprah Magazine
“An undoubted talent… Introspective and personal.” —The Wall Street Journal
"It's noir raised to the level of art. It's a page-turner but it's also a profound meditation on fate and mortality." —2013 Premior Gregor von Rezzori Prize announcement
“Vásquez creates characters whose memories resonate powerfully across an ingeniously interlocking structure…Vásquez creates a compelling literary work—one where an engaging narrative envelops poignant memories of a fraught historical period.” —The New Republic
“Quietly elegant… Vásquez is a resourceful storyteller. Scenes and dialogue shine with well-chosen details. His theme echoes compellingly through family parallels, ill-fated flights and even a recurring hippo motif. He shrugs off the long shadow of Gabriel Garcia Marquez with a gritty realism that has its own persuasive magic.” — Bloomberg News
“The Sound of Things Falling is a masterful chronicle of how the violence between the cartels and government forces spilled out to affect and corrode ordinary lives. It is also Vásquez's finest work to date…. His stark realism - the flip side of the magical variation of his compatriot Gabriel Garcia Marquez - together with his lyrical treatment of memory produces both an electrifying and a sobering read.” – San Francisco Chronicle
“Haunting…Vasquez brilliantly and sensitively illuminates the intimate effects and whispers of life under siege, and the moral ambiguities that inform survival.” – Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Moving… The novel presents the human toll exacted by the country’s years of violence.” – New York Observer
“Vásquez shows how the personal is linked to the political… The story is compelling but through Vásquez’s vivid prose (rendered brilliantly into English by the award-winning translator Anne McLean) it also becomes haunting…. [A] poignant and perturbing tale about the inheritance of fear in a country scrabbling to regain its soul.” – Financial Times
“[C]ompelling, beautifully translated…. [E]lucidates with great acuity the complex relationship between memory and trauma… In this hugely affecting novel, it is the silent suffering that haunts the most…. Engrossing…. Vásquez holds his tightly crafted narrative together with admirable stylistic control as he shows a world falling apart and the redemptive powers of love and language to rebuild it.” – The Guardian
Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s previous books include the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award winner and national bestseller The Sound of Things Falling, as well as the award-winning Reputations, The Informers, The Secret History of Costaguana, and the story collection Lovers on All Saints' Day. Vásquez’s novels have been published in twenty-eight languages worldwide. After sixteen years in France, Belgium, and Spain, he now lives in Bogotá.
Anne McLean translates Latin American and Spanish novels, short stories, memoirs, and other writings. She has twice won both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán, and received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Juan Gabriel Vásquez for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. She lives in Toronto.
View titles by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
From the author of The Sound of Things Falling, a powerful novel about a legendary political cartoonist.
Javier Mallarino is a living legend. He is his country’s most influential political cartoonist, the conscience of a nation. A man capable of repealing laws, overturning judges’ decisions, and destroying politicians’ careers with his art. His weapons are pen and ink. Those in power fear him and pay him homage.
After four decades of a brilliant career, he’s at the height of his powers. But this all changes when he’s paid an unexpected visit by a young woman who upends his personal history and forces him to reconsider his life and work, questioning his position in the world.
In Reputations, Juan Gabriel Vásquez examines the weight of the past, how a public persona intersects with private histories, the burdens and surprises of memory. In this intimate novel, Vásquez once again brilliantly plumbs universal experiences to create a masterly story, one that reverberates long after you turn the final page.
Reviews
Praise for Juan Gabriel Vásquez
"Brilliant." —New York Times Book Review "Virtuoso." —Time "Exceptional." —Wall Street Journal "Masterful." —San Francisco Chronicle "Remarkable." —The Washington Post "Exquisite." —NPR
Praise for The Sound of Things Falling
Winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2014 Winner of the Alfaguara Prize 2011 Winner of the Gregor von Rezzori Prize 2013 - See more at:
"[A] Brilliant new novel...gripping...absorbing right to the end. The Sound of Things Falling may be a page turner, but it's also a deep meditation on fate and death." —Edmund White, The New York Times Book Review
"Deeply affecting and closely observed." —Hector Tobar, Los Angeles Times
"Like Bolaño, [Vasquez] is a master stylist and a virtuoso of patient pacing and intricate structure, and he uses the novel for much the same purpose that Bolaño did: to map the deep, cascading damage done to our world by greed and violence and to concede that even love can’t repair it." —Lev Grossman, Time Magazine
“The narrative escalates, the mystery deepens, and the scope of the story widens with each page. This terrific novel draws on Colombia’s tragic history and cycles of violence to tell the story of a troubled man trying to come to grips with the distant forces and events that have shaped his life.” —Khaled Hosseini
"Juan Gabriel Vasquez is a considerable writer. The Sound of Things Falling is an artful, ruminative mystery... And the reader comes away haunted by its strong playing out of an irreversible fate." —E. L. Doctorow
"Compelling…genuine and magnificently written." —Library Journal, STARRED
“Literary magic of one of Latin America’s most talented novelists…a masterpiece.” —Booklist, STARRED
“An exploration in the ways in which stories profoundly impact our lives.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED
“Languid existential noir, one that may put you in mind of Paul Auster.” —Dwight Garner, New York Times
"If you only read one book this month..." —Esquire
"Razor-sharp" —O, the Oprah Magazine
“An undoubted talent… Introspective and personal.” —The Wall Street Journal
"It's noir raised to the level of art. It's a page-turner but it's also a profound meditation on fate and mortality." —2013 Premior Gregor von Rezzori Prize announcement
“Vásquez creates characters whose memories resonate powerfully across an ingeniously interlocking structure…Vásquez creates a compelling literary work—one where an engaging narrative envelops poignant memories of a fraught historical period.” —The New Republic
“Quietly elegant… Vásquez is a resourceful storyteller. Scenes and dialogue shine with well-chosen details. His theme echoes compellingly through family parallels, ill-fated flights and even a recurring hippo motif. He shrugs off the long shadow of Gabriel Garcia Marquez with a gritty realism that has its own persuasive magic.” — Bloomberg News
“The Sound of Things Falling is a masterful chronicle of how the violence between the cartels and government forces spilled out to affect and corrode ordinary lives. It is also Vásquez's finest work to date…. His stark realism - the flip side of the magical variation of his compatriot Gabriel Garcia Marquez - together with his lyrical treatment of memory produces both an electrifying and a sobering read.” – San Francisco Chronicle
“Haunting…Vasquez brilliantly and sensitively illuminates the intimate effects and whispers of life under siege, and the moral ambiguities that inform survival.” – Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Moving… The novel presents the human toll exacted by the country’s years of violence.” – New York Observer
“Vásquez shows how the personal is linked to the political… The story is compelling but through Vásquez’s vivid prose (rendered brilliantly into English by the award-winning translator Anne McLean) it also becomes haunting…. [A] poignant and perturbing tale about the inheritance of fear in a country scrabbling to regain its soul.” – Financial Times
“[C]ompelling, beautifully translated…. [E]lucidates with great acuity the complex relationship between memory and trauma… In this hugely affecting novel, it is the silent suffering that haunts the most…. Engrossing…. Vásquez holds his tightly crafted narrative together with admirable stylistic control as he shows a world falling apart and the redemptive powers of love and language to rebuild it.” – The Guardian
Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s previous books include the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award winner and national bestseller The Sound of Things Falling, as well as the award-winning Reputations, The Informers, The Secret History of Costaguana, and the story collection Lovers on All Saints' Day. Vásquez’s novels have been published in twenty-eight languages worldwide. After sixteen years in France, Belgium, and Spain, he now lives in Bogotá.
Anne McLean translates Latin American and Spanish novels, short stories, memoirs, and other writings. She has twice won both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán, and received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Juan Gabriel Vásquez for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. She lives in Toronto.
View titles by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
