Farrar, Straus and Giroux
June 2012
On Sale: June 5, 2012
368 pages ISBN: 0374143463 EAN: 9780374143466 Kindle: B0088470A8 Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
A subtle and enlightening novel about a neglected human rights pioneer by the Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa
In 1916, the Irish nationalist Roger Casement was hanged by the British government for treason. Casement had dedicated his extraordinary life to improving the plight of oppressed peoples around the worldβespecially the native populations in the Belgian Congo and the Amazonβbut when he dared to draw a parallel between the injustices he witnessed in African and American colonies and those committed by the British in Northern Ireland, he became involved in a cause that led to his imprisonment and execution. Ultimately, the scandals surrounding Casementβs trial and eventual hanging tainted his image to such a degree that his pioneering human rights work wasnβt fully reexamined until the 1960s.
In The Dream of the Celt, Mario Vargas Llosa, who has long been regarded as one of Latin Americaβs most vibrant, provocative, and necessary literary voicesβa fact confirmed when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010βbrings this complex character to life as no other writer can. A masterful work, sharply translated by Edith Grossman, The Dream of the Celt tackles a controversial man whose story has long been neglected, and, in so doing, pushes at the boundaries of the historical novel.
Media Buzz
All Things Considered - July 4, 2012 PBS News Hour - June 1, 2012
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