Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Paperback, 1st Vintage International ed)

The setting for this iridescent gem of storytelling by the bestselling author of Corelli's Mandolin and The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts is an unnamed South American country where the rule of law has given way to the rule of the lawless and the laws of magic.

The young philosophy professor Dionisio Vivo is the only citizen who dares denounce his country's cocaine mafia. This makes him the object of several assassination attempts, as well as a national hero when the attempts on his life backfire with a regularity that is either farcical or supernatural. But Senor Vivo's immunity does not extend to the people he loves. Only Louis de Bernieres could so deftly manage the ensuing escalation from a macabre comedy to a wrenching tragedy of revenge. Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord is a work that engages on every level, delighting with its outsized characters and enchanting with its luminous prose.