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{{Infobox writer
| honorific_prefix = [[The Most Excellent]]
| name             = The Marquess of Vargas Llosa
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|size=100%|list=[[Order of the Sun of Peru|OSP]] [[Order of Christopher Columbus|OCC]]}}
| image            = 18. Internationales Management-Gespräch 1988-Schriftsteller und Politiker Mario Vargas Llosa am Symposium-HSGH 022-000745-02 (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Vargas Llosa in 1988
| birth_name       = {{nowrap|Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa}}
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1936|3|28}}
| birth_place      = [[Arequipa]], Peru
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2025|4|13|1936|3|28|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Lima]], Peru
| occupation       = 
| citizenship      = {{plainlist|
* Peru
* Spain (from 1993)
* Dominican Republic (from 2023)<ref name="citizenships">{{cite news|url=https://www.infobae.com/leamos/2023/06/01/mario-vargas-llosa-acepto-la-nacionalidad-dominicana-es-un-ejemplo-para-america-latina/ |title=Mario Vargas Llosa aceptó la nacionalidad dominicana: "Es un ejemplo para América Latina" |language=es |date= 1 June 2023 |publisher= Infobae}}</ref>
}}
| alma_mater       = {{plainlist|
* [[National University of San Marcos]]
* [[Complutense University of Madrid]]
}}
{{Infobox person|embed = yes
| title            = [[Marquess of Vargas Llosa]] (from 2011)
| party            = [[People's Liberty]] (from 2023)
| otherparty       = {{plainlist|
* [[Liberty Movement]] (1987–1993)
* [[Democratic Front (Peru)|Democratic Front]] (1988–1990)
}}}}
| awards           = {{plainlist|
* {{awards|[[Prince of Asturias Award]]|1986}}
* {{awards|[[Miguel de Cervantes Prize]]|1994}}
* {{awards|[[Nobel Prize in Literature]]|[[2010 Nobel Prize in Literature|2010]]}}
}}
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Julia Urquidi]]|1955|1964|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Patricia Llosa|1965|2015|end=separated}}
}}
| partner          = [[Isabel Preysler]] (2015–2022)
| children         = 3, including [[Álvaro Vargas Llosa|Álvaro]]
| website          = {{Official website}} {{in lang|es}}
| signature        = Mario Vargas Llosa Signature.svg
| module           = {{Infobox officeholder|embed=yes
| office           = Seat ''L'' of the [[Royal Spanish Academy]]
| term_start       = 15 January 1996{{efn|Elected on 24 March 1994.}}
| term_end         = 13 April 2025
| predecessor      = {{ill|v=ib|Juan Rof Carballo|es}}
| successor        = 
| office2          = Seat 18 of the [[Académie Française]]
| term_start2      = 9 February 2023{{efn|Elected on 25 November 2021.}}
| term_end2        = 13 April 2025
| predecessor2     = [[Michel Serres]]
| successor2       = 
}}
}}
{{Liberalism in Peru|expanded=Intellectuals}}

'''Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa,'''{{efn|{{IPA|es|ˈxorxe ˈmaɾjo ˈpeðɾo ˈβaɾɣaz ˈʎosa}}.}} '''1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa''' (28 March 1936{{snd}}13 April 2025), more commonly known as '''Mario Vargas Llosa''', was a  Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist, and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists and one of the leading writers of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a more substantial international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the [[Latin American Boom]]. [[2010 Nobel Prize in Literature|In 2010]], he won the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] for "his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".

Vargas Llosa rose to international fame in the 1960s with novels such as ''[[The Time of the Hero]]'' ({{lang|es|La ciudad y los perros}}, 1963/1966), ''[[The Green House]]'' ({{lang|es|La casa verde}}, 1965/1968), and the monumental ''[[Conversation in The Cathedral]]'' ({{lang|es|Conversación en La Catedral}}, 1969/1975).{{efn|The first year given is the original publication date in Spanish; the second is the year of English publication.}} He wrote prolifically across various [[literary genre]]s, including [[literary criticism]] and journalism. His novels include comedies, murder mysteries, historical novels, and political thrillers. He won the 1967 [[Rómulo Gallegos Prize]] and the 1986 [[Prince of Asturias Award]]. Several of his works have been adopted as feature films, such as ''[[Captain Pantoja and the Special Service]]'' (1973/1978) and ''[[Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter]]'' (1977/1982). Vargas Llosa's perception of Peruvian society and his experiences as a native Peruvian influenced many of his works. Increasingly, he expanded his range and tackled themes from other parts of the world. In his essays, Vargas Llosa criticized [[nationalism]] in different parts of the world.

Like many Latin American writers, Vargas Llosa was politically active. While he initially supported the Cuban revolutionary government of [[Fidel Castro]], Vargas Llosa later became disenchanted with its policies, particularly after the imprisonment of Cuban poet [[Heberto Padilla]] in 1971, and later identified as a liberal and held anti&ndash;left-wing ideas. He ran for the [[presidency of Peru]] with the centre-right {{lang|es|[[Democratic Front (Peru)|Frente Democrático]]}} coalition in the [[1990 Peruvian general election|1990 election]], advocating for [[classical liberalism|liberal]] reforms, but lost the election to [[Alberto Fujimori]] in a landslide.

Vargas Llosa continued his literary career while advocating for right-wing activists and candidates internationally following his exit from direct participation in Peruvian politics. He was awarded the 1994 [[Miguel de Cervantes Prize]], the 1995 [[Jerusalem Prize]], the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, the 2012 [[Carlos Fuentes Prize]], and the 2018 [[Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit]]. In 2011, Vargas Llosa was made [[Marquess of Vargas Llosa]] by Spanish king [[Juan Carlos I]]. In 2021, he was elected to the [[Académie Française]].

==Early life and family==
[[File:Mario vargas llosa tesis universidad de san marcos 1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Vargas Llosa's thesis [[Foundations for an Interpretation of Rubén Darío]], presented to his alma mater, the [[National University of San Marcos]], in 1958]]

Mario Vargas Llosa was born to a middle-[[Middle class|class]] family<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|pp=15–16}}</ref> on 28 March 1936, in the southern Peruvian provincial city of [[Arequipa]].<ref name="Williams17" /> He was the only child of Ernesto Vargas Maldonado and Dora Llosa Ureta (the former a radio operator in an aviation company, the latter the daughter of an old [[Criollo (people)|criollo]] family), who separated a few months before his birth.<ref name="Williams17">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=17}}</ref> Shortly after Mario's birth, his father revealed that he was in a relationship with a German woman, from which Mario's two younger half-brothers—Enrique and Ernesto Vargas—were born.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morote|1998|p=14}}</ref>

Vargas Llosa lived with his maternal family in Arequipa until a year after his parents divorced, when his maternal grandfather was named [[honorary consul]] for Peru in [[Bolivia]].<ref name="Williams17"/> With his mother and her family, Vargas Llosa then moved to [[Cochabamba]], Bolivia, where he spent the early years of his childhood.<ref name="Williams17"/> His maternal family, the Llosas, were sustained by his grandfather, who managed a cotton farm.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morote|1998|pp=6–7}}</ref> As a child, Vargas Llosa was led to believe that his father had died—his mother and her family did not want to explain that his parents had separated.<ref name="Williams24">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=24}}</ref> During the government of President [[José Bustamante y Rivero]], Vargas Llosa's maternal grandfather, who was a cousin of Bustamante y Rivero,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/20/magazine/a-passion-for-peru.html A PASSION FOR PERU]</ref> obtained a diplomatic post in the northern Peruvian coastal city of [[Piura]] and the entire family returned to Peru.<ref name="Williams24"/> While in Piura, Vargas Llosa attended elementary school at the  Colegio Salesiano religious academy.<ref name="Williams30">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=30}}</ref> In 1946, at the age of ten, he moved to [[Lima]] and met his father for the first time.<ref name="Williams30"/> His parents re-established their relationship and lived in [[Magdalena del Mar]], a middle-class Lima suburb, during his teenage years.<ref>{{Harvnb |Williams|2001|p=31}}</ref> While in Lima, he studied at the Colegio La Salle, a Catholic middle school, from 1947 to 1949.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=32}}</ref>

When Vargas Llosa was fourteen, his father sent him to the [[Leoncio Prado Military Academy]] in Lima.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vincent|2007|p=2}}</ref> At the age of 16, before his graduation, Vargas Llosa began working as a journalist for local newspapers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vargas Llosa |first=Mario |url=http://archive.org/details/fishinwaterm00varg |title=A fish in the water: a memoir |date=1994 |publisher=New York : Farrar, Straus, Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-15509-4 |pages=117}}</ref> He withdrew from the military academy and finished his <!--high school?-->studies in Piura, where he worked for the local newspaper, ''{{lang|es|La Industria}}'', and witnessed the theatrical performance of his first dramatic work, ''{{lang|es|La huida del Inca}}''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=34}}</ref>

In 1953, during the government of [[Manuel A. Odría]], Vargas Llosa enrolled in Lima's [[National University of San Marcos]], to study law and literature.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=39}}</ref> While at the university, he was a member of a [[communist]] group, embracing the ideology as a reaction to the corruption and inequality endemic to Latin America.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Iber |first=Patrick |date=15 April 2019 |title=The Political Lives of Mario Vargas Llosa |language=en-US |work=[[The Nation]] |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/mario-vargas-llosa-sabres-and-utopias-book-review/ |access-date=31 July 2023 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref> He married [[Julia Urquidi]], his maternal uncle's sister-in-law, in 1955 at the age of 19; she was 10&nbsp;years older.<ref name="Castro9">{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=9}}</ref> Vargas Llosa began his literary career in earnest, in 1957, with the publication of his first short stories, "The Leaders" ("Los jefes") and "The Grandfather" ("El abuelo"), while working for two Peruvian newspapers.<ref>The newspapers were ''El Mercurio Peruano'' and ''El Comercio''. {{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=21}}</ref> Upon his graduation from the National University of San Marcos in 1958, he received a scholarship to study at the [[Complutense University of Madrid]] in Spain.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=44}}</ref>

In 1960, after his scholarship in [[Madrid]] had expired, Vargas Llosa moved to France, under the impression that he would receive a scholarship to study there. However, upon arriving in [[Paris]], he learned that his scholarship request had been denied.<ref name="Williams45">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=45}}</ref> Despite Mario and Julia's unexpected financial status, the couple decided to remain in Paris, where he began to write prolifically, including as a ghostwriter.<ref name="Williams45" /><ref>{{cite news |title=De cuando Vargas Llosa fue "negro" de una millonaria|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/escenarios/20131113/54394062823/vargas-llosa-negro.html|work=[[La Vanguardia]]|location=Barcelona|language=es|date=13 November 2013|access-date=1 July 2022|quote=El escritor refleja su propia experiencia en la obra teatral 'Kathie y el hipopótamo'}}</ref> Their marriage lasted only a few more years before ending in divorce in 1964.<ref name="Williams54">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=54}}</ref> A year later, Vargas Llosa [[Cousin marriage|married his first cousin]], Patricia Llosa,<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Williams54" /> with whom he had three children: [[Álvaro Vargas Llosa|Álvaro]] (born 1966), a writer and editor; Gonzalo (born 1967), an international civil servant; and {{ill|Morgana Vargas Llosa|lt=Morgana|es|Morgana Vargas Llosa}} (born 1974), a photographer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 April 2025 |title=Así son Álvaro, Gonzalo y Morgana, los hijos de Mario Vargas Llosa encargados de cumplir la última voluntad del Premio Nobel |url=https://www.lecturas.com/actualidad/alvaro-gonzalo-morgana-hijos-mario-vargas-llosa-que-han-estado-su-lado-hasta-su-fallecimiento_132596 |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=Lecturas |language=es}}</ref>

==Writing career==

===Beginning and first major works===
Vargas Llosa's first novel, ''[[The Time of the Hero]]'' (''{{lang|es|La ciudad y los perros}}''), was published in 1963. The book is set among a community of cadets in a Lima military school, and the plot is based on the author's own experiences at Lima's [[Leoncio Prado Military Academy]].<ref name="Kristal32">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=32}}</ref> This early piece gained wide public attention and immediate success.<ref name="Cevallos273">{{Harvnb|Cevallos|1991|p=273}}</ref> Its vitality and adept use of sophisticated literary techniques immediately impressed critics,<ref name="Kristal33">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=33}}</ref> and it won the ''[[Premio de la Crítica Española]]'' award.<ref name="Cevallos273" /> Nevertheless, its sharp criticism of the Peruvian military establishment led to controversy in Peru: several generals attacked the novel, claiming that it was the work of a "degenerate mind" and stating that Vargas Llosa was "paid by Ecuador" to undermine the prestige of the Peruvian Army.<ref name="Cevallos273" />

In 1965, Vargas Llosa published his second novel, ''[[The Green House]]'' (''{{lang|es|La casa verde}}''), about a brothel called "The Green House" and how its quasi-mythical presence affects the lives of the characters. The main plot follows Bonifacia, a girl who is about to receive the vows of the church and her transformation into ''{{lang|es|la Selvática}}'', the Green House's best-known [[Prostitution|prostitute]]. The novel was immediately acclaimed, confirming Vargas Llosa as an important voice of Latin American narrative.<ref name="Kristal xi"/> ''The Green House'' won the first edition of the [[Rómulo Gallegos Prize|Rómulo Gallegos International Novel Prize]] in 1967, contending with works by veteran Uruguayan writer [[Juan Carlos Onetti]] and by [[Gabriel García Márquez]].<ref name=GallegosPrize>{{Harvnb|Armas Marcelo|2002|p=102}}. See also {{citation|title=I Edition of the International Novel Prize Rómulo Gallegos|publisher=Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela Ministerio del Poder Popular para La Cultura|url=http://www.celarg.org.ve/Ingles/Premio%20Romulo%20Gallegos%201%20Edicion.htm|access-date=16 April 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716052005/http://www.celarg.org.ve/Ingles/Premio%20Romulo%20Gallegos%201%20Edicion.htm|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> This novel, alone, accumulated enough awards to place the author among the leading figures of the [[Latin American Boom]].<ref name="Booker6" /> Some critics still consider ''The Green House'' to be Vargas Llosa's finest and most important achievement.<ref name="Booker6">{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=6}}</ref> Indeed, Latin American literary critic [[Gerald Martin]] suggests that ''The Green House'' is "one of the greatest novels to have emerged from Latin America".<ref name="Booker6" />

Vargas Llosa's third novel, ''[[Conversation in The Cathedral]]'' (''{{lang|es|Conversación en La Catedral}}''), was published in 1969, when he was 33. This ambitious narrative is the story of Santiago Zavala, the son of a government minister, and Ambrosio, his chauffeur.<ref>{{Harvnb| Kristal |1998|p=61}}</ref> A random meeting at a [[dog pound]] leads the pair to a riveting conversation at a nearby bar known as "The Cathedral".<ref>{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=80}}</ref> During the encounter, Zavala searches for the truth about his father's role in the murder of a notorious Peruvian underworld figure, shedding light on the workings of a dictatorship along the way.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Da serra à costa O Peru e as obras de Mario Vargas Llosa de 1950 a 1960|author=Barroso Sacoman, Mateus|isbn=978-3-330-74802-6|edition=1. Auflage, neue Ausgabe|location=Saarbrücken|oclc=962093882|date = 13 October 2016}}</ref> Unfortunately for Zavala, his quest results in a dead end with no answers and no sign of a better future.<ref name="Castro106">{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=106}}</ref> The novel attacks the dictatorial government of Odría by showing how a dictatorship controls and destroys lives.<ref name="Cevallos273" /> The persistent theme of hopelessness makes ''Conversation in The Cathedral'' Vargas Llosa's most bitter novel.<ref name="Castro106"/>

Vargas Llosa lectured on Spanish American Literature at [[King's College London]] from 1969 to 1970.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/newsrecords/2010/oct/TenthNobelPrizeWinner.aspx |title=Tenth Nobel Prize Winner |date=10 December 2010 |work=King's College London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080209/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/newsrecords/2010/oct/TenthNobelPrizeWinner.aspx |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

===1970s and the "discovery of humor"===
In 1971, Vargas Llosa published ''García Márquez: Story of a Deicide'' (''{{lang|es|García Márquez: historia de un deicidio}}''), which was his doctoral thesis for the Complutense University of Madrid.<ref>Jaime Perales Contreras, review of Mario Vargas Llosa, ''Obras Completas'', Vol. VI, Tomo. I, in ''Americas Magazine'', Organization of American States, July–August 2007.</ref><ref name="Shaw431">{{Harvnb|Shaw|1973|p=431}}</ref> Although Vargas Llosa wrote this book-length study about his then friend, the Colombian [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel laureate]] writer Gabriel García Márquez, they did not speak to each other again. In 1976, Vargas Llosa punched García Márquez in the face at the [[Palacio de Bellas Artes]] in [[Mexico City]], ending the friendship.<ref>"Todo occurrió en 1976, en el Palacio de Bellas Artes de la ciudad de México.&nbsp;... todos los presentes quedaron impresionados y sorprendidos por el puñetazo que MVLL propinó a García Márquez cuando el escritor colombiano venía a abrazar al novelista peruano." {{Harvnb|Armas Marcelo|2002|p=110}}</ref> <!-- Journalist Francisco Igartua, Vargas Llosa's friend, witnessed the event. In his book, ''{{lang|es|Huellas de un Destierro}}'', Igartua states that after knocking García Márquez out, leaving him on the floor, Vargas Llosa said: "That's for what you did to Patricia in Barcelona."<ref>"Esto es por lo que le hiciste a Patricia en Barcelona." {{Harvnb|Igartua|1998|p=??}}. See also {{Harvnb|Coca|2006}}</ref> --> Neither writer publicly stated the underlying reasons for the quarrel.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dammann|2007|}}</ref> A photograph of García Márquez sporting a black eye was published in 2007, reigniting public interest in the feud.<ref name="Cohen">{{Harvnb|Cohen|2007}}</ref> Despite the decades of silence, in 2007, Vargas Llosa agreed to allow part of his book to be used as the introduction to a 40th-anniversary edition of García Márquez's ''[[One Hundred Years of Solitude]]'', which was re-released in Spain and throughout Latin America that year.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vincent|2007|p=3}}</ref> ''Historia de un Deicidio'' was also reissued in that year, as part of Vargas Llosa's complete works.

Following the monumental work ''Conversation in The Cathedral'', Vargas Llosa's output shifted away from more serious themes such as politics and problems with society. Raymond L. Williams, a scholar of Latin American literature, describes this phase in his writing career as "the discovery of humor".<ref name="QC273">Qtd. in {{Harvnb|Cevallos|1991|p=273}}</ref> His first attempt at a satirical novel was ''Captain {{lang|es|Pantoja}} and the Special Service'' (''{{lang|es|Pantaleón y las visitadoras}}''), published in 1973.<ref>{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=136}}</ref> This short, comic novel offers vignettes of dialogues and documents about the Peruvian armed forces and a corps of prostitutes assigned to visit military outposts in remote jungle areas.<ref name="Booker33">{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=33}}</ref> These plot elements are similar to Vargas Llosa's earlier novel ''The Green House'', but in a different form. ''Captain {{lang|es|Pantoja}} and the Special Service'' is, therefore, essentially a parody of both ''The Green House'' and the literary approach that novel represents.<ref name="Booker33" /> Vargas Llosa's motivation to write the novel came from actually witnessing prostitutes being hired by the Peruvian Army and brought to serve soldiers in the jungle.<ref>{{Harvnb|Setti|1989|p=65}}</ref>

From 1974 to 1987, Vargas Llosa focused on his writing, but also took the time to pursue other endeavours.<ref name="Williams60">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=60}}</ref> In 1975, he co-directed an unsuccessful motion-picture adaptation of his novel, ''Captain {{lang|es|Pantoja}} and the Secret Service''.<ref name="Williams60"/> In 1976 he was elected President of [[PEN International]], the worldwide association of writers and oldest [[human rights]] organization, a position he held until 1979.<ref name="Williams60"/> During this time, Vargas Llosa frequently travelled to speak at conferences organized by international institutions such as the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] and the [[University of Cambridge]], where he was Simón Bolívar Professor and an Overseas Fellow of [[Churchill College]] in 1977–78.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|pp=60–61}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Simón Bolívar Chair |url=http://www.latin-american.cam.ac.uk/staff/bolivar.html |publisher=Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge |access-date=16 January 2012 |date=1 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128163017/http://www.latin-american.cam.ac.uk/staff/bolivar.html |archive-date=28 January 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Economics, and Literature for Churchill Fellows |url=http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/about/news/robert_edwards.php |publisher=[[Churchill College, Cambridge]] |access-date=22 February 2011 |date=12 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007141030/http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/about/news/robert_edwards.php |archive-date=7 October 2010 }}</ref>

In 1977, Vargas Llosa was elected as a member of the [[Academia Peruana de la Lengua|Peruvian Academy of Language]]. That year, he also published ''[[Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter]]'' (''{{lang|es|La tía Julia y el escribidor}}''), based in part on his marriage to his first wife, Julia Urquidi, to whom he dedicated the novel.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=91}}</ref> She later wrote a memoir, ''{{lang|es|Lo que Varguitas no dijo}}'' (''What Little Vargas Didn't Say''), in which she gives her personal account of their relationship. She states that Vargas Llosa's account exaggerates many negative points in their courtship and marriage while minimizing her role of assisting his literary career.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=221}}</ref> ''Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter'' is considered one of the most striking examples of how the language and imagery of popular culture can be used in literature.<ref>{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=54}}</ref> The novel was adapted in 1990 into a Hollywood feature film, ''[[Tune in Tomorrow]]''.

===Later novels===
[[File:Mariovargasllosa.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Vargas Llosa in 1982]]

Vargas Llosa's fourth major novel, ''[[The War of the End of the World]]'' (''{{lang|es|La guerra del fin del mundo}}''), was published in 1981 and was his first attempt at a historical novel.<ref name="Kristal140">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=140}}</ref> This work initiated a radical change in Vargas Llosa's style towards themes such as [[messianism]] and irrational human behaviour.<ref>{{Harvnb|Campos|Oviedo|1981|p=299}}</ref> It recreates the [[War of Canudos]], an incident in 19th-century Brazil in which an armed [[millenarian]] cult held off a siege by the national army for months.<ref name="Booker75">{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=75}}</ref> As in Vargas Llosa's earliest work, this novel carries a sober and serious theme, and its tone is dark.<ref name="Booker75" /> Vargas Llosa's bold exploration of humanity's propensity to idealize violence, and his account of a man-made catastrophe brought on by fanaticism on all sides, earned the novel substantial recognition.<ref name="Kristal124">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=124}}</ref> Because of the book's ambition and execution, critics have argued that this is one of Vargas Llosa's greatest literary pieces.<ref name="Kristal124" /> Even though the novel has been acclaimed in Brazil, it was initially poorly received because a foreigner was writing about a Brazilian topic.<ref>{{Harvnb|Setti|1989|p=46}}</ref> The book was also criticized as revolutionary and anti-[[socialist]].<ref name=Setti42/> Vargas Llosa said that this book was his favourite and was his most difficult accomplishment.<ref name=Setti42>{{Harvnb|Setti|1989|p=42}}</ref>

After completing ''The War of the End of the World'', Vargas Llosa began to write novels that were significantly shorter than many of his earlier books. In 1983, he finished ''The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta'' (''{{lang|es|Historia de Mayta}}'', 1984).<ref name="Kristal140"/> The novel focuses on a leftist insurrection that took place on 29 May 1962, in the [[Andes|Andean]] city of [[Jauja]].<ref name="Kristal140"/> Later the same year, during the [[Sendero Luminoso]] uprising, Vargas Llosa was asked by President [[Fernando Belaúnde Terry]] to join the Investigatory Commission, a task force to inquire into the massacre of eight journalists at the hands of the villagers of [[Uchuraccay]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|pp=150–151}}</ref> The commission's main purpose was to investigate the murders in order to provide information regarding the incident to the public.<ref name="Kristal151">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=151}}</ref> Following his involvement with the Investigatory Commission, Vargas Llosa published a series of articles to defend his position in the affair.<ref name="Kristal151"/> In 1986, he completed his next novel, ''Who Killed {{lang|es|Palomino Molero}}?'' (''{{lang|es|¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero?}}''), which he began writing shortly after the end of the Uchuraccay investigation.<ref name="Kristal151"/> Though the plot of this [[Mystery (fiction)|mystery novel]] is similar to the tragic events at Uchuraccay, literary critic Roy Boland points out that it was not an attempt to reconstruct the murders, but rather a "literary exorcism" of Vargas Llosa's own experiences on the commission.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boland|Harvey|1988|p=164}}</ref> The experience also inspired one of Vargas Llosa's later novels, ''[[Death in the Andes]]'' (''{{lang|es|Lituma en los Andes}}''), originally published in 1993 in Barcelona.<ref name="franco56" />

It was almost 20&nbsp;years before Vargas Llosa wrote another major work: ''[[The Feast of the Goat]]'' (''{{lang|es|La fiesta del chivo}}''), a [[political thriller]], was published in 2000 (and in English in 2001). According to Williams, it is Vargas Llosa's most complete and most ambitious novel since ''The War of the End of the World''.<ref name="Williams267">{{Harvnb| Williams |2001|p=267}}</ref> Critic Sabine Koellmann sees it in the line of his earlier novels such as ''Conversation in The Cathedral'' depicting the effects of authoritarianism, violence and the abuse of power on the individual.<ref name="Koellmann239ff">{{Harvnb| Koellmann |2002|pp=239 ff}}.</ref> Based on the dictatorship of [[Rafael Trujillo]], who governed the [[Dominican Republic]] from 1930 until his assassination in 1961, the novel has three main strands: one concerns Urania Cabral, the daughter of a former politician and Trujillo loyalist, who returns for the first time since leaving the Dominican Republic after Trujillo's assassination 30&nbsp;years earlier; the second concentrates on the assassination itself, the conspirators who carry it out, and its consequences; and the third and final strand deals with Trujillo himself in scenes from the end of his regime.<ref name="Williams267"/> The book quickly received positive reviews in Spain and Latin America<ref>{{Harvnb| Williams |2001|p=268}}</ref> and is regarded as one of Vargas Llosa's best works.<ref name="Williams267"/>

In 2003 he wrote ''[[The Way to Paradise]]'' in which he studies [[Flora Tristan]] and [[Paul Gauguin]]. In 2006, Vargas Llosa wrote ''[[The Bad Girl]]'' (''{{lang|es|Travesuras de la niña mala}}''), which journalist Kathryn Harrison argues is a rewrite (rather than simply a recycling) of [[Gustave Flaubert]]'s ''[[Madame Bovary]]'' (1856).<ref>{{Harvnb|Harrison|2007}}</ref> In Vargas Llosa's version, the plot relates the decades-long obsession of its narrator, a Peruvian expatriate in Paris, with a woman with whom he first fell in love when both were teenagers. In 2019 he published the novel ''[[Harsh Times (novel)|Harsh Times]]'' (''{{lang|es|Tiempos recios}}''), about the [[1954 Guatemalan coup d'état|1954 coup in Guatemala]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2020/february/tiempos-recios-mario-vargas-llosa|title=Tiempos recios by Mario Vargas Llosa|date=15 February 2020|website=Latin American Literature Today}}</ref> In 2023, Vargas Llosa announced that he would publish his final novel, ''{{lang|es|Le dedico mi silencio}}'' (''I Give You My Silence''), and retire.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Sam |title=Mario Vargas Llosa says latest novel will be his last |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/26/mario-vargas-llosa-latest-novel-will-be-last |access-date=14 April 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=26 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rodenas de Moya |first1=Domingo |title='I dedicate my silence to you': Vargas Llosa returns to Peru with his last novel before retiring |url=https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-10-31/i-dedicate-my-silence-to-you-vargas-llosa-returns-to-peru-with-his-last-novel-before-retiring.html |access-date=14 April 2025 |work=EL PAÍS English |date=31 October 2023 |language=en-us}}</ref>

==Political career==

=== Turn to liberalism ===
[[File:Enrique Peña Nieto y Mario Vargas Llosa.jpg|thumb|Mario Vargas Llosa with Mexican president [[Enrique Peña Nieto]] in 2014]]

Like many other Latin American intellectuals, Vargas Llosa was initially a supporter of the [[Cuban Revolution|Cuban revolutionary]] government of [[Fidel Castro]].<ref name="Kristal xi">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=xi}}</ref> He studied [[Marxism]] in depth as a university student and was later persuaded by [[communism|communist]] ideals after the success of the Cuban Revolution.<ref>{{Harvnb|Setti|1989|p=140}}</ref> Gradually, Vargas Llosa came to believe that [[socialism]] was incompatible with what he considered to be general liberties and freedoms.<ref>{{Harvnb|Setti|1989|p=141}}</ref> The official rupture between the writer and the policies of the Cuban government occurred with the "Padilla Affair", when the Castro regime imprisoned the poet [[Heberto Padilla]] for a month in 1971.<ref>{{cite news |author=Bohlen, Celestine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/28/arts/heberto-padilla-68-cuban-poet-is-dead.html |title=Heberto Padilla, 68, Cuban Poet, Is Dead |work=The New York Times |date=28 September 2000}}</ref> Vargas Llosa, along with other intellectuals of the time, wrote to Castro protesting the Cuban political system and its imprisonment of the poet.<ref>{{Harvnb|Setti|1989|p=142}}</ref> Vargas Llosa identified himself with liberalism rather than extreme left-wing political ideologies thereafter.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morote|1998|p=234}}</ref> After he relinquished his earlier leftism, he opposed both left- and right-wing authoritarian regimes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vincent|2007|p=1}}</ref>

=== Investigatory Commission ===
[[File:Sabatovargasllosa.jpg|thumb|Argentine writer [[Ernesto Sabato]] (left) with Mario Vargas Llosa (right) in 1981]]

With his appointment to the Investigatory Commission on the {{Ill|Uchuraccay massacre|es|Masacre de Uchuraccay}} in 1983, he experienced what literary critic [[Jean Franco]] calls "the most uncomfortable event in [his] political career".<ref name="franco56">{{Harvnb|Franco|2002|p=56}}</ref> Unfortunately for Vargas Llosa, his involvement with the Investigatory Commission led to immediate negative reactions and defamation from the Peruvian press; many suggested that the massacre was a conspiracy to keep the journalists from reporting the presence of government paramilitary forces in [[Uchuraccay]].<ref name="Kristal151" /> The commission concluded that it was the indigenous villagers who had been responsible for the killings; for Vargas Llosa the incident showed "how vulnerable democracy is in Latin America and how easily it dies under dictatorships of the right and left".<ref>Qtd. {{Harvnb|Kirk|1997|pp=183–184}}</ref> These conclusions, and Vargas Llosa personally, came under intense criticism: anthropologist Enrique Mayer, for instance, accused him of "paternalism",<ref>Qtd. {{Harvnb|Kokotovic|2007|p=172}}</ref> while fellow anthropologist Carlos Iván Degregori criticized him for his ignorance of the Andean world.<ref>Qtd. {{Harvnb|Kokotovic|2007|p=177}}</ref> Vargas Llosa was accused of actively colluding in a government cover-up of army involvement in the massacre.<ref name="Kristal151" /> American [[Latin American literature]] scholar Misha Kokotovic summarizes that the novelist was charged with seeing "indigenous cultures as a 'primitive' obstacle to the full realization of his Western model of modernity".<ref>{{Harvnb|Kokotovic|2007|p=177}}</ref> Shocked both by the atrocity itself and then by the reaction his report had provoked, Vargas Llosa responded that his critics were apparently more concerned with his report than with the hundreds of peasants who later died at the hands of the [[Sendero Luminoso]] guerrilla organization.<ref>Qtd. {{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=231}}</ref>

=== Presidential candidacy ===
{{Main|1990 Peruvian general election}}
In 1987, he helped form and soon became a leader of the centre-right party [[Liberty Movement|Movimiento Libertad]].<ref name="Bolland8">{{Harvnb|Boland|Harvey|1988|p=8}}</ref> The following year his party entered a coalition with the parties of Peru's two principal conservative politicians at the time, ex-president [[Fernando Belaúnde Terry]] (of the [[Popular Action (Peru)|Popular Action]] party) and [[Luis Bedoya Reyes]] (of the [[Partido Popular Cristiano (Peru)|Popular Christian Party]]), to form the tripartite centre-right coalition known as ''[[Democratic Front (Peru)|Frente Democrático]]'' (FREDEMO).<ref name="Bolland8" /> He ran for the [[List of Presidents of Peru|presidency of Peru]] in 1990 as the candidate of the FREDEMO coalition with the support of the United States.<ref name=":112">{{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Timothy |date=2005 |title=The work of economics: how a discipline makes its world |journal=European Journal of Sociology |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=299–310 |doi=10.1017/S000397560500010X |doi-access=free |s2cid=146456853}}</ref> Many of Peru's political elite in the 21st century began their careers in FREDEMO.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |title=Mario Vargas Llosa: Why the 2010 Nobel Prize winner stirs controversy in Peru |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/1007/Mario-Vargas-Llosa-Why-the-2010-Nobel-Prize-winner-stirs-controversy-in-Peru |access-date=31 July 2023 |issn=0882-7729}}</ref> He proposed [[neoliberal]] policies—similar to those later adopted by Alberto Fujimori—that included a drastic economic [[austerity]] program that frightened most of the country's poor; this program emphasized the need for privatization, a market economy, free trade, and most importantly, the dissemination of private property.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Iber|first=Patrick|date=15 April 2019|title=The Political Lives of Mario Vargas Llosa|language=en-US|work=[[The Nation]]|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/mario-vargas-llosa-sabres-and-utopias-book-review/|access-date=19 April 2021|issn=0027-8378}}</ref><ref name="emilyparker">{{Harvnb|Parker|2007}}</ref>

Vargas Llosa, according to Rospigliosi, inspired some of the objectives drafted by the [[Peruvian Armed Forces]] in the [[Plan Verde]], specifically in the volume titled ''Driving Peru into the XXI century'', which outlined Peru becoming a neoliberal country and called for the extermination of vulnerable populations deemed as economically burdensome.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Rospigliosi |first=Fernando |title=Las Fuerzas Armadas y el 5 de abril: la percepción de la amenaza subversiva como una motivación golpista |publisher=Instituto de Estudios Peruanos |year=1996 |location=Lima, Peru |pages=28–40}}</ref> Members of the [[Peruvian Armed Forces]] who drafted the Plan Verde initially expected Vargas Llosa to win the presidency and support their objectives.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Avilés |first=William |date=Spring 2009 |title=Despite Insurgency: Reducing Military Prerogatives in Colombia and Peru |journal=[[Latin American Politics and Society]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=57–85 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-2456.2009.00040.x |s2cid=154153310}}</ref><ref name=":16"/> Although Vargas Llosa won the first round with 34% of the vote, he was defeated by a then-unknown agricultural engineer, [[Alberto Fujimori]], in the subsequent run-off.<ref name="emilyparker" /> Vargas Llosa included an account of his run for the presidency in the memoir ''[[A Fish in the Water]]'' (''El pez en el agua'', 1993).<ref>{{Harvnb|Larsen|2000|p=155}}</ref>

== Later life ==
[[File:Acto fundacional UPD3.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Vargas Llosa at the founding act of the Spanish political party [[Union, Progress and Democracy|UPyD]] in September 2007]]

Vargas Llosa mainly lived in [[Madrid]] from the 1990s onwards, but spent roughly three months of the year in Peru with his extended family.<ref name="emilyparker" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esmadrid.com/es/portal.do?IDM%3D204%26NM%3D4%26TR%3DC%26IDR%3D1763 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa: Madrid Es Mi Ciudad |access-date=11 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720131245/http://www.esmadrid.com/es/portal.do?IDM=204&NM=4&TR=C&IDR=1763 |archive-date=20 July 2011 }}</ref> He also frequently visited London where he occasionally spent long periods. Vargas Llosa acquired Spanish citizenship in 1993,<ref name="citizenships"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/magazine/the-elder-statesman-of-latin-american-literature-and-a-writer-of-our-moment.html|title=The Elder Statesman of Latin American Literature — and a Writer of Our Moment|work=The New York Times|quote=But when Fujimori shut down Congress, Vargas Llosa became his enemy. He asked the international community to cut off aid to Fujimori and noted (correctly) that Latin American militaries often favor coups d'état. In response, Fujimori's head of the armed forces, Nicolás de Bari Hermoza, suggested that Vargas Llosa was deliberately harming Peruvians. Álvaro Vargas Llosa told me that they learned of a plan to strip the entire Vargas Llosa family of its Peruvian citizenship. Mario appealed to Spain, and in 1993 it granted him citizenship. In Peru, this event was widely perceived as the petulant betrayal of a sore loser.|date=20 February 2018}}</ref> though he still held [[Peruvian nationality]].<ref name="peruvian citizenship">{{cite news|url=https://larepublica.pe/espectaculos/farandula/2023/02/17/mario-vargas-llosa-por-que-el-escritor-estuvo-a-punto-de-perder-la-nacionalidad-peruana-biografia-nacionalidades-de-mario-vargas-llosa-espana-gobierno-de-alberto-fujimori-shfm-452030 |title=¿Por qué Mario Vargas Llosa estuvo a punto de perder la nacionalidad peruana?|language=es |date= 17 February 2023 |publisher= La República}}</ref> The writer often reiterated his love for both countries. In his Nobel prize acceptance speech he observed: "I carry Peru deep inside me because that is where I was born, grew up, was formed, and lived those experiences of childhood and youth that shaped my personality and forged my calling." He then added: "I love Spain as much as Peru, and my debt to her is as great as my gratitude. If not for Spain, I never would have reached this podium or become a known writer."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2010/vargas_llosa-lecture_en.pdf |title=Mario Vargas Llosa: In praise of reading and fiction |date=7 December 2010 |work=The Nobel Foundation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325031050/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2010/vargas_llosa-lecture_en.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2016 |access-date=11 December 2010 }}</ref>

Mario Vargas Llosa served as a visiting professor of Latin American studies at [[Harvard University]] during the 1992–1993 academic year.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/10/llosa-nobel-literature | title=Mario Vargas Llosa Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature| newspaper=Harvard Magazine| date=7 October 2010}}</ref> Harvard later recognized Vargas Llosa by conferring upon him an honorary [[Doctor of Letters]] degree in 1999.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://harvardmagazine.com/1999/07/jhj.honoris.html | title=Harvard Magazine: Honoris Causa (1999)}}</ref> In 1994 he was elected a member of the [[Real Academia Española]] (Royal Spanish Academy) and took up its ''L'' seat on 15 January 1996.<ref name="Williams83">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=83}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rae.es/academicos/mario-vargas-llosa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920021443/http://www.rae.es/academicos/mario-vargas-llosa |title=Mario Vargas Llosa |newspaper=Real Academia Española |archive-date=20 September 2015 |access-date=27 March 2016}}</ref> Vargas Llosa joined the [[Mont Pelerin Society]] in 2014.<ref name="forbesmontpelerin">{{cite news|last1=Chafuen|first1=Alejandro|date=26 March 2014|title=Away From Socialism: Mario Vargas Llosa Joins The Mont Pelerin Society|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrochafuen/2014/03/26/away-from-socialism-mario-vargas-llosa-joins-the-mont-pelerin-society/#43523d92485c|access-date=24 September 2016}}</ref> He was also a member of Washington, D.C.–based think tank, the [[Inter-American Dialogue]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mario Vargas Llosa|url=http://www.thedialogue.org/experts/mario-vargas-llosa/|access-date=13 April 2017|publisher=Inter-American Dialogue}}</ref>

=== Panama and Pandora Papers ===
Vargas Llosa was named in both the [[Panama Papers]] (2016) and [[Pandora Papers]] (2021) released by the [[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=5 October 2021|title=Las cuentas del escritor {{!}} IDL Reporteros|url=https://www.idl-reporteros.pe/las-cuentas-del-escritor/|access-date=6 October 2021|website=[[IDL Reporteros]]}}</ref> According to [[IDL-Reporteros]], the [[British Virgin Islands]] company Melek Investing Inc. was documented to be owned by Vargas Llosa, and was used for book royalty profits and the sale of real estate in London and Madrid.<ref name=":0" /> Following the Panama Papers leak in 2016, Carmen Balcells said on behalf of Vargas Llosa that investments were made "without the consent of Messrs. Vargas Llosa", while in the 2021 Pandora Papers leaks, Javier Martín, a representative of Vargas Llosa, said the writer "was not aware of the ownership of that company".<ref name=":0" /> IDL-Reporteros provided a document showing Vargas Llosa's signature on a "Consent to Act as Director" form for Melek Investing Inc. as part of the 2021 leak.<ref name=":0" />

==Style of writing==

===Plot, setting, and major themes===
[[File:IRPB-UNMSM Mario Vargas Llosa y otros intelectuales.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Vargas Llosa (fifth from the left), accompanied by several Peruvian intellectuals and members of the [[Academia Peruana de la Lengua|Peruvian Academy of Language]], during his visit to the [[Raúl Porras Barrenechea Institute]] of the [[National University of San Marcos]] in 2011]]

Vargas Llosa's style encompasses historical material as well as his own personal experiences.<ref>{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=48}}</ref> For example, in his first novel, ''The Time of the Hero'', his own experiences at the Leoncio Prado military school informed his depiction of the corrupt social institution which mocked the moral standards it was supposed to uphold.<ref name="Kristal32" /> Furthermore, the corruption of the book's school is a reflection of the corruption of Peruvian society at the time the novel was written.<ref name="Kristal33" /> Vargas Llosa frequently used his writing to challenge the inadequacies of society, such as demoralization and oppression by those in political power towards those who challenge this power. One of the main themes he explored in his writing is the individual's struggle for freedom within an oppressive reality.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morote|1998|pp=66–67}}</ref> For example, his two-volume novel ''Conversation in The Cathedral'' is based on the tyrannical dictatorship of President [[Manuel A. Odría]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=56}}</ref> The protagonist, Santiago, rebels against the suffocating dictatorship by participating in the subversive activities of leftist political groups.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=59}}</ref> In addition to themes such as corruption and oppression, Vargas Llosa's second novel, ''The Green House'', explores "a denunciation of Peru's basic institutions", dealing with issues of abuse and exploitation of the workers in the [[brothel]] by corrupt military officers.<ref name="QC273" />

Many of Vargas Llosa's earlier novels were set in Peru, while in later work he expanded to other regions of Latin America, such as Brazil and the Dominican Republic.<ref name=castro-klaren19>{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=19}}</ref> His responsibilities as a writer and lecturer allowed him to travel frequently and led to settings for his novels in regions outside of Peru.<ref name="Williams60" /> ''The War of the End of the World'' was his first major work set outside Peru.<ref name="Cevallos273"/> Though the plot deals with historical events of the [[Canudos]] revolt against the Brazilian government, the novel is not based directly on historical fact; rather, its main inspiration is the non-fiction account of those events published by Brazilian writer [[Euclides da Cunha]] in 1902.<ref name="Booker75" /> ''The Feast of the Goat'', based on the dictatorship of [[Rafael Trujillo]], takes place in the [[Dominican Republic]];<ref name="Williams267"/> in preparation for this novel, Vargas Llosa undertook a comprehensive study of Dominican history.<ref name="Williams270">{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=270}}</ref> The novel was characteristically [[literary realism|realist]], and Vargas Llosa underscored that he "respected the basic facts,&nbsp;... I have not exaggerated", but at the same time he pointed out "It's a novel, not a history book, so I took many, many liberties."<ref>Qtd. in {{Harvnb|Gussow|2002}}</ref>

One of Vargas Llosa's later novels, ''[[The Way to Paradise]]'' (''{{lang|es|El paraíso en la otra esquina}}''), is set largely in [[Tahiti]] in [[French Polynesia]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Vargas Llosa|2003|p=}}</ref> Based on the biography of social reformer [[Flora Tristan]], it demonstrates how Flora and [[Paul Gauguin]] were unable to find paradise, but were still able to inspire followers to keep working towards a socialist [[utopia]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Heawood|2003|p=}}</ref> Unfortunately, Vargas Llosa was not as successful in transforming these historical figures into fiction. Some critics, such as [[Barbara Mujica (writer)|Barbara Mujica]], argue that ''The Way to Paradise'' lacks the "audacity, energy, political vision, and narrative genius" that was present in his previous works.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mujica|2004|p=}}</ref>

===Modernism and postmodernism===
The works of Mario Vargas Llosa are viewed as both [[modernist]] and [[postmodernist]] novels.<ref name="Booker32">{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=32}}</ref> Though there is still much debate over the differences between modernist and postmodernist literature, literary scholar M. Keith Booker claims that the difficulty and technical complexity of Vargas Llosa's early works, such as ''The Green House'' and ''Conversation in The Cathedral'', are clearly elements of the modern novel.<ref name="Booker6"/> Furthermore, these earlier novels all carry a certain seriousness of attitude—another important defining aspect of modernist art.<ref name="Booker32"/> By contrast, his later novels such as ''Captain Pantoja and the Special Service'', ''Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter'', ''The Real Life of {{lang|es|Alejandro Mayta}}'', and ''[[The Storyteller (Vargas Llosa novel)|The Storyteller]]'' (''{{lang|es|El hablador}}'') appear to follow a postmodernist mode of writing.<ref>{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=3}}</ref> These novels have a much lighter, [[farce|farcical]], and comic tone, characteristics of postmodernism.<ref name="Booker33"/> Comparing two of Vargas Llosa's novels, ''The Green House'' and ''Captain Pantoja and the Special Service'', Booker discusses the contrast between modernism and postmodernism found in the writer's works: while both novels explore the theme of prostitution as well as the workings of the Peruvian military, Booker points out that the former is gravely serious whereas the latter is ridiculously comic.<ref name="Booker33"/>

===Interlacing dialogues===
[[File:MarioVargasLlosaAitanaSanchezGijon.jpg|thumb|Vargas Llosa acting in his play ''{{lang|es|Los cuentos de la peste}}'' in [[Teatro Español (Madrid)|Teatro Español]], 2015]]

Literary scholar M. Keith Booker argues that Vargas Llosa perfects the technique of interlacing dialogues in his novel ''The Green House''.<ref name="Booker33"/> By combining two conversations that occur at different times, he creates the illusion of a [[Flashback (narrative)|flashback]]. Vargas Llosa also sometimes used this technique as a means of shifting location by weaving together two concurrent conversations happening in different places.<ref name="Booker14">{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=14}}</ref>

This technique is a staple of his repertoire, which he began using near the end of his first novel, ''The Time of the Hero''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=13}}</ref> However, he did not use interlacing dialogues in the same way in all of his novels. For example, in ''The Green House'' the technique is used in a serious fashion to achieve a sober tone and to focus on the interrelatedness of important events separated in time or space.<ref>{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|p=35}}</ref> In contrast, ''Captain Pantoja and the Special Service'' employs this strategy for comic effects and uses simpler spatial shifts.<ref>{{Harvnb|Booker|1994|pp=35–36}}</ref> This device is similar to both [[Virginia Woolf]]'s mixing of different characters' [[Soliloquy|soliloquies]] and Gustave Flaubert's [[counterpoint]] technique in which he blends together conversation with other events, such as speeches.<ref name="Booker14"/> This was seen to occur yet again in Vargas Llosa's penultimate novel, ''Tiempos recios'', as two dialogues, one between Trujillo and Castillo Armas, and another between Trujillo and Abbes García, are juxtaposed.

===Literary influences===
[[File:Mario Vargas Llosa090.JPG|thumb|Vargas Llosa in 2012]]

Vargas Llosa's first literary influences were relatively obscure Peruvian writers such as [[Martín Adán]], [[Carlos Oquendo de Amat]], and [[César Moro]].<ref name="Castro3">{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=3}}</ref> As a young writer, he looked to these revolutionary novelists in search of new narrative structures and techniques in order to delineate a more contemporary, multifaceted experience of urban Peru. He was looking for a style different from the traditional descriptions of land and rural life made famous by Peru's foremost novelist at the time, [[José María Arguedas]].<ref>{{Harvnb |Castro-Klarén|1990|p=4}}</ref> Vargas Llosa wrote of Arguedas's work that it was "an example of old-fashioned regionalism that had already exhausted its imaginary possibilities".<ref name="Castro3" /> Although he did not share Arguedas's passion for indigenous reality, Vargas Llosa admired and respected the novelist for his contributions to Peruvian literature.<ref>{{Harvnb |Kristal|1998|p=9}}</ref> Indeed, he published a book-length study on his work, ''La utopía arcaica'' (1996).

Rather than restrict himself to Peruvian literature, Vargas Llosa also looked abroad for literary inspiration. Two French figures, [[existentialist]] [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] and novelist [[Gustave Flaubert]], influenced both his technique and style.<ref>{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|pp=6–7}}</ref> Sartre's influence is most prevalent in Vargas Llosa's extensive use of conversation.<ref name="Castro6">{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=6}}</ref> The epigraph of ''The Time of the Hero'', his first novel, is also taken directly from Sartre's work.<ref>{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=34}}</ref> Flaubert's artistic independence—his novels' disregard of reality and morals— was always admired by Vargas Llosa,<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=25}}</ref> who wrote a book-length study of Flaubert's [[aesthetics]], ''[[The Perpetual Orgy]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=115}}</ref> In his analysis of Flaubert, Vargas Llosa questioned the revolutionary power of literature in a political setting; this is in contrast to his earlier view that "literature is an act of rebellion", thus marking a transition in Vargas Llosa's aesthetic beliefs.<ref name="Kristal81">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=81}}</ref> Other critics such as Sabine Köllmann argue that his belief in the transforming power of literature is one of the great continuities that characterize his fictional and non-fictional work, and link his early statement that 'Literature is Fire' with his Nobel Prize Speech 'In Praise of Reading and Writing'.<ref>Sabine Köllmann, A Companion to Mario Vargas Llosa. Woodbridge (Tamesis), 2014 {{ISBN|978-1-85566-269-8}}</ref>

One of Vargas Llosa's favourite novelists, and arguably the most influential on his writing career, was the American [[William Faulkner]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=28}}</ref> Vargas Llosa considered Faulkner "the writer who perfected the methods of the modern novel".<ref name="Kristal26">{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=26}}</ref> Both writers' styles include intricate changes in time and narration.<ref name="Castro6"/><ref name="Kristal26"/> In ''The Time of the Hero'', for example, aspects of Vargas Llosa's plot, his main character's development and his use of narrative time are influenced by his favourite Faulkner novel, ''[[Light in August]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kristal|1998|p=34}}</ref>

In addition to the studies of Arguedas and Flaubert, Vargas Llosa wrote literary criticisms of other authors that he admired, such as Gabriel García Márquez, [[Albert Camus]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], and [[Jean-Paul Sartre]].<ref name="Castro116"/> The main goals of his non-fiction works are to acknowledge the influence of these authors on his writing, and to recognize a connection between himself and the other writers;<ref name="Castro116">{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=116}}</ref> critic Sara Castro-Klarén argues that he offers little systematic analysis of these authors' literary techniques.<ref name="Castro116"/> In ''The Perpetual Orgy'', for example, he discusses the relationship between his own aesthetics and Flaubert's, rather than focusing on Flaubert's alone.<ref>{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=119}}</ref>

== Political views ==
After distancing himself from [[left-wing politics]], he embraced [[right-wing politics]].<ref name=":32">{{Cite news |last=Hanson |first=Jack |date=5 July 2023 |title=The Miseducation of Mario Vargas Llosa |language=en-US |work=[[The Nation]] |url=https://www.thenation.com/?post_type=article&p=440323 |access-date=9 July 2023 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref> In 1989, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote that though Vargas Llosa's party appeared [[centre-right]], "he has ties with far-right politicians in other countries".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Eugene |date=26 March 1989 |title=The Vision of Vargas Llosa Peru as the Promised Land |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/03/26/the-vision-of-vargas-llosa-peru-as-the-promised-land/0fe25973-5685-49b1-a072-e9a76c86e0c7/}}</ref> Vargas Llosa continued to be criticized due to his association with [[far-right]] groups and politicians.<ref>{{Cite web|date=29 December 2021 |title=A López Obrador le "da gusto constatar la decadencia" de Mario Vargas Llosa |url=https://www.latimes.com/espanol/mexico/articulo/2021-12-29/a-lopez-obrador-le-da-gusto-constatar-la-decadencia-de-mario-vargas-llosa |access-date=28 June 2023 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=es}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=9 December 2021 |title=Intelectuales rechazan el ingreso de Vargas Llosa en la Academia Francesa |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/vargas-llosa_intelectuales-rechazan-el-ingreso-de-vargas-llosa-en-la-academia-francesa/47178560 |access-date=28 June 2023 |website=[[EFE]] |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=8 February 2023 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa se prepara para hacer historia con su ingreso a la Academia Francesa |url=https://www.france24.com/es/europa/20230208-mario-vargas-llosa-se-prepara-para-hacer-historia-con-su-ingreso-a-la-academia-francesa |access-date=28 June 2023 |website=[[France 24]]}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=10 December 2021 |title=Intelectuales rechazan ingreso de MVLL a la Academia Francesa tras apoyo a Fujimori y Kast |url=https://larepublica.pe/mundo/2021/12/09/mario-vargas-llosa-intelectuales-rechazan-su-ingreso-a-la-academia-francesa-luego-de-apoyar-a-keiko-fujimori-y-jose-antonio-kast-elecciones-2021-chile-peru |access-date=28 June 2023 |website=[[La República]] |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Mochkofsky |first=Graciela |date=19 July 2023 |title=The Puzzling, Increasingly Rightward Turn of Mario Vargas Llosa |language=en-US |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-puzzling-increasingly-rightward-turn-of-mario-vargas-llosa |access-date=31 July 2023 |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' called Vargas Llosa "a right-wing maverick"<ref name=":5" /> while the magazine [[Jacobin (magazine)|''Jacobin'']] described him as a "far-right novelist".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pelé Tried to Be an Apolitical Icon |url=https://jacobin.com/2023/01/pele-brazil-dictatorship-politics-world-cup |access-date=31 July 2023 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

Vargas Llosa described himself as a supporter of [[liberalism]] and said that the individuals who have had most impact on his political thought have included [[Karl Popper]], [[Friedrich Hayek]], and [[Isaiah Berlin]].<ref name=":32" /> According to ''[[The Nation]]'', Vargas Llosa would condemn leftist groups entirely due to the controversies of some while minimizing similar actions by [[neoliberal]] governments.<ref name=":32" /> Vargas Llosa was also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched in 2018 by [[Reporters Without Borders]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rsf.org/en/mario-vargas-llosa|title=Mario Vargas Llosa &#124; Reporters without borders|date=9 September 2018|website=RSF}}</ref> He supported [[right-wing libertarian]] candidate [[Javier Milei]] in the [[2023 Argentine general election]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://elpais.com/argentina/2023-11-12/los-expresidentes-rajoy-pinera-duque-y-calderon-piden-el-voto-para-el-ultraderechista-milei-en-argentina.html | title=El Nobel Vargas Llosa y los expresidentes Rajoy, Duque y Piñera piden el voto para el ultraderechista Milei en Argentina | date=12 November 2023 }}</ref>

=== Chile ===
Following the arrest of [[Augusto Pinochet]] for crimes against humanity in 1999, Vargas Llosa wrote an op-ed in ''[[The New York Times]]'' asking why left wing dictators were also not being arrested.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Jara |first=Matias |date=5 December 2021 |title=Kast: el candidato chileno que quiere construir zanjas en las fronteras con Perú y Bolivia |url=https://ojo-publico.com/3215/kast-el-candidato-chileno-que-quiere-construir-zanjas-en-la-frontera |access-date=7 December 2021 |website=[[Ojo Público]] |language=es}}</ref> During the [[2021 Chilean general election]], Vargas Llosa expressed support for conservative presidential candidate [[José Antonio Kast]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

=== Brazil ===
During the [[2022 Brazilian general election]], Vargas Llosa expressed his endorsement for Brazilian president [[Jair Bolsonaro]].<ref>{{cite web |date=12 May 2022 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa, ganhador do Nobel de Literatura, diz que prefere Bolsonaro a Lula |url=https://oglobo.globo.com/politica/mario-vargas-llosa-ganhador-do-nobel-de-literatura-diz-que-prefere-bolsonaro-lula-25507677}}</ref> "The case of Bolsonaro it's a hard question. His jokes are very hard to endorse, for a liberal [...] Now, between Bolsonaro and [[Lula]], I prefer Bolsonaro. Even with jokes from Bolsonaro, Lula no." said Vargas Llosa at a conference.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nobel de Literatura, Vargas Llosa diz que prefere Bolsonaro a Lula |url=https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/politica/nobel-de-literatura-vargas-llosa-diz-que-prefere-bolsonaro-a-lula/}}</ref>

=== Mexico ===
A month after losing the [[1990 Peruvian general election|1990 election]], at the invitation of [[Octavio Paz]], Vargas Llosa attended a conference in Mexico entitled, "The 20th Century: The Experience of Freedom". Focused on the collapse of communist rule in central and eastern Europe, it was broadcast on [[Mexican television]] from 27 August to 2 September. Addressing the conference on 30 August 1990, Vargas Llosa embarrassed his hosts by condemning the Mexican system of power based on the rule of the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]] (PRI), which had been in power for 61 years. Criticizing the PRI by name, he commented, "I don't believe that there has been in Latin America any case of a system of dictatorship that has so efficiently recruited the intellectual milieu, bribing it with great subtlety." He declared, "Mexico is the perfect dictatorship. The perfect dictatorship is not communism, not the USSR, not Fidel Castro; the perfect dictatorship is Mexico. Because it is a camouflaged dictatorship."<ref name="terra">''Terra.'' 7 October 2010. [https://archive.today/20130112184033/http://www.terra.com.mx/noticias/articulo/973216/Vargas+Llosa+a+20+anos+de+Mexico+es+una+dictadura+perfecta.htm Vargas Llosa a 20 años de "México es una dictadura perfecta"] (Vargas Llosa, 20 years after "Mexico is a perfect dictatorship").</ref><ref>''El País'' (Madrid). 1990 September 1. [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/AZUA/_FELIX_DE/TRIAS/_EUGENIO/VARGAS_LLOSA/_MARIO/MARSE/_JUAN_/ESCRITOR/PAZ/_OCTAVIO/SARAMAGO/elpepicul/19900901elpepicul_1/Tes Vargas Llosa: "México es la dictadura perfecta"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024235439/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/AZUA/_FELIX_DE/TRIAS/_EUGENIO/VARGAS_LLOSA/_MARIO/MARSE/_JUAN_/ESCRITOR/PAZ/_OCTAVIO/SARAMAGO/elpepicul/19900901elpepicul_1/Tes|date=24 October 2011}}</ref> The statement "Mexico is the perfect dictatorship" became a cliché in Mexico{{sfn|Reding|1991|p=257}} and internationally, until the PRI [[2000 Mexican general election|lost power in 2000]].

=== Peru ===
In April 2011, during the [[2011 Peruvian general election|2011 general election]], Vargas Llosa said he was going to vote for [[Alejandro Toledo]] (who had already served as president from 2001 to 2006). After casting his vote, he said his country should stay in the path of legality and freedom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vargas Llosa votará por Alejandro Toledo en elecciones peruanas |url=http://elcomercio.pe/politica/739288/noticia-mario-vargas-llosa-votare-alejandro-toledo |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410010859/http://elcomercio.pe/politica/739288/noticia-mario-vargas-llosa-votare-alejandro-toledo |archive-date=10 April 2011 |access-date=7 April 2011 |publisher=Elcomercio.pe}} | Source in Spanish: "Vargas Llosa will vote for Alejandro Toledo in Peruvian elections"</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Vargas Llosa: Peru should maintain legality, freedom and economic development |url=http://www.andina.com.pe/ingles/Noticia.aspx?id=zsdtuw6005M= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120005915/http://www.andina.com.pe/ingles/Noticia.aspx?id=zsdtuw6005M%3D |archive-date=20 January 2012 |access-date=11 April 2011 |publisher=andina}}</ref>

After her introduction into politics, Vargas Llosa had a complex opinion on conservative politician [[Keiko Fujimori]], daughter of president of Peru [[Alberto Fujimori]]. During her candidacy in the 2011 general election, Vargas Llosa said "the worst option is that of Keiko Fujimori because it means the legitimation of one of the worst dictatorships that Peru has had in its history", endorsing and calling for Peruvian voters to consider [[left-wing]] candidate [[Ollanta Humala]] over Fujimori in the second-round ballot.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Escalante |first=Claudia |date=22 May 2011 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa: La peor opción es la de Keiko Fujimori |url=https://rpp.pe/politica/actualidad/mario-vargas-llosa-la-peor-opcion-es-la-de-keiko-fujimori-noticia-367976 |access-date=19 April 2021 |website=[[RPP (Peru)|RPP]] |language=es}}</ref> After Fujimori announced her candidacy for the [[2016 Peruvian general election|2016 general election]], Vargas Llosa said in 2014, "Keiko is the daughter of a murderer and a thief who is imprisoned, tried by civil courts with international observers, sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder and theft. I do not want her to win the elections."<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 September 2014 |title=Vargas Llosa sobre Keiko: 'No quiero que sea presidenta la hija de un asesino' {{!}} POLITICA |url=https://peru21.pe/politica/vargas-llosa-keiko-quiero-sea-presidenta-hija-asesino-187128-noticia/ |access-date=19 April 2021 |website=[[Peru21]] |language=es}}</ref> However, in the second round of the [[2021 Peruvian general election|2021 general election]], Vargas Llosa expressed support for Keiko, sharing opposition to far-left candidate [[Pedro Castillo]] and describing Fujimori as the "lesser of two evils".<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 April 2021 |title=Keiko Fujimori would be 'lesser of two evils' as Peru president, says Nobel prize author |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/18/keiko-fujimori-would-be-lesser-of-two-evils-as-peru-president-says-nobel-prize-author-mario-vargas-llosa |access-date=18 April 2021 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Peru's Vargas Llosa backs Keiko Fujimori ahead of June run-off |url=https://news.trust.org/item/20210418082750-32reb/ |access-date=18 April 2021 |website=news.trust.org |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418103456/https://news.trust.org/item/20210418082750-32reb/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=18 April 2021 |title=Vargas Llosa manifesta apoio a Keiko Fujimori no segundo turno no Peru |url=https://istoe.com.br/vargas-llosa-manifesta-apoio-a-keiko-fujimori-no-segundo-turno-no-peru/ |access-date=18 April 2021 |website=ISTOÉ Independente |language=pt-BR}}</ref> French intellectuals, who criticized his admission to the [[Académie française]], said that Vargas Llosa contributed to the [[Peruvian political crisis (2017–present)|Peruvian political crisis]] during the 2021 general election.<ref name=":3" />

=== Spain ===
In February 2008 he ended his support for the [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] in favour of the recently created [[Union, Progress and Democracy]], claiming that certain conservative views held by the former party are at odds with his classical liberal beliefs. His political ideologies appear in the book ''{{lang|es|[[Política razonable]]}}'', written with [[Fernando Savater]], [[Rosa Díez]], [[Álvaro Pombo]], [[Albert Boadella]], and [[Carlos Martínez Gorriarán]].<ref>{{citation |title=Escritor Mario Vargas Llosa retira su apoyo al PP y pide el voto para UPyD |date=25 February 2008 |url=http://actualidad.terra.es/articulo/escritor_mario_vargas_llosa_pp_2277630.htm |journal=Terra Actualidad |access-date=22 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203031829/http://actualidad.terra.es/articulo/escritor_mario_vargas_llosa_pp_2277630.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 December 2008}}.{{in lang|es}}</ref> He continued to write, both journalism and fiction, and to travel extensively. He also taught as a visiting professor at a number of prominent universities.<ref>These include [[Queen Mary, University of London]], and [[King's College London]], both part of the [[University of London]], the Pullman campus of [[Washington State University]], the [[University of Puerto Rico]] at [[Río Piedras]], [[Columbia University]], [[Harvard University]], [[Princeton University]], [[Georgetown University]], and the [[City University of New York]]. See {{cite web |title=Biographical Sketch |url=http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/llosa/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070702194227/http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/llosa/ |archive-date=2 July 2007 |access-date=14 April 2008}}. Mario Vargas Llosa Papers. Princeton University Library. Retrieved on 14 April 2008.</ref>

Vargas Llosa was opposed to [[Catalan independence movement|Catalan independence]] from Spain. Attending an anti-independence rally in October 2017, he said: "Spanish democracy is here to stay. No separatist conspiracy can destroy it."<ref>"[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-41544565/catalonia-independence-peruvian-nobel-laureate-calls-for-unity-in-spain Catalonia independence: Peruvian Nobel laureate calls for 'unity' in Spain]". BBC News. 8 October 2017.</ref> In 2021, he attended a rally against the [[Trial of Catalonia independence leaders|pardon of the Catalan independence leaders]] in Madrid.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 June 2021 |title=Fotos: La manifestación en Colón para protestar contra los indultos del 'procés', en imágenes |language=es |work=[[El País]] |url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2021/06/13/album/1623578204_036328.html |access-date=22 August 2021 |issn=1134-6582}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 June 2021 |title=Los rostros más conocidos en la plaza de Colón contra los indultos |url=https://www.elespanol.com/espana/politica/20210613/rostros-conocidos-plaza-colon-indultos/588721127_3.html |access-date=22 August 2021 |website=[[El Español]] |language=es}}</ref>

== Later personal life  ==
[[File:Vargas Llosa con gorra de Universitario de Deportes.jpg|thumb|upright|Vargas Llosa wearing a cap from [[Club Universitario de Deportes]], the Peruvian soccer team he supported as a youth]]

Vargas Llosa was an [[agnostic]], "I was not a believer, nor was I an atheist either, but, rather, an agnostic".<ref>{{cite book |last=Vargas Llosa |first=Mario |title=A fish in the water : a memoir |publisher=Picador |others=Lane, Helen R. |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-250-00577-9 |location=New York |pages=2011 |oclc=719428763 |orig-year=1994}}</ref>

Vargas Llosa declared himself a music lover and stated that he felt a special fondness for [[Gustav Mahler]].<ref>{{cite web |date=26 March 2016 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa gathers a polished style, conciseness, imaginative structures and revealing dialogues: David Martín del Campo |url=https://www.cultura.gob.mx/dgai/noticias-detalle/?id=45228&orden=1&ln=en |publisher=cultura.gob.mx}}</ref> He was fond of association football and was a supporter of [[Universitario de Deportes]].<ref>{{citation|title=Mario Vargas Llosa a Nobel football fan and supporter of Universitario de Deportes|date=7 October 2010|url=http://www.conmebol.com/conmebol/mainMedia.html?id=16969&viewpage='full'|journal=South American Football Confederation|access-date=30 December 2010}} {{Dead link|date=March 2012|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> In his book ''[[A Fish in the Water]]'' he confessed that from childhood he was a fan of the 'cream coloured' team from Peru, which he first saw play one day in 1946 when he was only 10 years old.<ref>{{cite web|title=Como pez en el agua: El dia en que Vargas Llosa debutó con la U|url=http://depor.pe/noticia/650743/como-pez-agua-dia-que-vargas-llosa-debuto=|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525234615/http://depor.pe/noticia/650743/como-pez-agua-dia-que-vargas-llosa-debuto%3D|archive-date=25 May 2011|access-date=30 December 2010|publisher=Depor.pe|trans-title=As a fish in the water: The day Vargas Llosa played with Universitario}}</ref> In February 2011, Vargas Llosa was awarded an honorary life membership of this football club, in a ceremony that took place at Lima's [[Estadio Monumental "U"|Monumental Stadium]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Vargas Llosa protagonista de la 'noche crema' de Universitario de Deportes|url=http://www.elmundo.es/america/2011/02/03/deportes/1296773898.html|access-date=14 February 2011|publisher=[[Elmundo.es]]|trans-title=Vargas Llosa in 'cream night' of Universitario}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Vargas Llosa: La 'U' es un mito, una leyenda, una tradición|url=http://elcomercio.pe/deportes/707923/noticia-mario-vargas-llosa-u-mito-leyenda|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206235802/http://elcomercio.pe/deportes/707923/noticia-mario-vargas-llosa-u-mito-leyenda|archive-date=6 February 2011|access-date=14 February 2011|publisher=elcomercio.pe|trans-title=Vargas Llosa: La 'U' is a myth, a legend, a tradition}}</ref>

In 2015, Vargas Llosa embarked on a relationship with Filipina Spanish socialite and TV personality [[Isabel Preysler]] and divorced his second wife Patricia Llosa.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mario Vargas Llosa confirma separacion con Patricia Llosa|url=http://larepublica.pe/espectaculos/6986-mario-vargas-llosa-confirma-separacion-con-patricia-llosa|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617150939/http://larepublica.pe/espectaculos/6986-mario-vargas-llosa-confirma-separacion-con-patricia-llosa|archive-date=17 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="elpais17nov">{{cite news|date=17 November 2015|title=Mario Vargas Llosa confirma que ha pedido el divorcio a su esposa|newspaper=El Pais|url=http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/11/17/estilo/1447763049_321018.html|access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> In December 2022, it was announced that Vargas Llosa and Preysler had split up.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Isabel Preysler and Mario Vargas Llosa split up after eight years together|newspaper=El País|date=28 December 2022|url=https://english.elpais.com/society/2022-12-28/isabel-preysler-and-mario-vargas-llosa-split-up-after-eight-years-together.html}}</ref>

He was infected with [[COVID-19]] and was hospitalized in April 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/andres-oppenheimer/article263980186.html|title= Nobel laureate Vargas Llosa nearly died of COVID, but he's back and vocal as ever|work=Miami Herald|date=29 July 2022}}</ref>

==Death==
Vargas Llosa died on 13 April 2025 in Lima at the age of 89, surrounded by his family and "at peace", his son [[Álvaro Vargas Llosa]] said on his X account.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/peruvian-writer-nobel-prize-winner-mario-vargas-llosa-died-2025-04-14/ |title=Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa died |work=Reuters|date=13 April 2025}}</ref> It was also announced that his remains would be cremated in a private ceremony.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/mario-vargas-llosa-obituary-511e54c5571b7486c1e57f560ce76952 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian author and Nobel literature laureate, dies at 89 |work=AP News |date=13 April 2025}}</ref>

Heads of state from several American countries — including [[Claudia Sheinbaum]] in Mexico, [[Dina Boluarte]] in Peru, [[Gabriel Boric]] in Chile, former president [[Luis Lacalle Pou]] in Uruguay, as well as former Colombian presidents [[Álvaro Uribe]] and [[Iván Duque]] — saluted Vargas Llosa's work and legacy.<ref name=":12">{{cite web|access-date=14 April 2025 |date=14 April 2025 |first=Maria |language=es |last=Hernandez |title=Despedida a Vargas Llosa: intelectuales, políticos e instituciones dedican un último adiós al Premio Nobel |url=https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2025/04/14/cultura/latinoamerica-mario-vargas-llosa-muerte-reacciones-efe |website=CNN}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> President of France [[Emmanuel Macron]], Prime Minister of Spain [[Pedro Sánchez]], the [[Spanish royal family]], and President of the Federal Republic of Germany [[Frank-Walter Steinmeier]] also paid tribute.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=14 April 2025 |date=14 April 2025 |language=fr-FR |title=Mort de Mario Vargas Llosa : Macron salue un "génie des lettres" qui avait en France "une patrie" |url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/livres/roman/mort-de-mario-vargas-llosa-macron-salue-un-genie-des-lettres-qui-avait-en-france-une-patrie_7189293.html |website=Franceinfo}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name=":13">{{cite web|access-date=14 April 2025 |date=14 April 2025 |first=Maria |language=es |last=Hernandez |title=Despedida a Vargas Llosa: intelectuales, políticos e instituciones dedican un último adiós al Premio Nobel |url=https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2025/04/14/cultura/latinoamerica-mario-vargas-llosa-muerte-reacciones-efe |website=CNN}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=14 April 2025 |date=14 April 2025 |first=S. W. I. |language=es |last=swissinfo.ch |title=Alemania lamenta la muerte de Vargas Llosa y manda condolencias a su familia |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/alemania-lamenta-la-muerte-de-vargas-llosa-y-manda-condolencias-a-su-familia/89162355 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

The Peruvian government declared 14 April 2025 as a [[National day of mourning|day of national mourning]], with flags flown at half-mast on all public buildings and diplomatic representations, in recognition of the writer.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=14 April 2025 |date=14 April 2025 |language=fr |title=Prix Nobel, francophile et homme engagé... Mario Vargas Llosa est mort à l'âge de 89 ans |url=https://www.tf1info.fr/culture/prix-nobel-francophile-et-homme-engage-mario-vargas-llosa-est-mort-a-l-age-de-89-ans-2364989.html |website=TF1 INFO}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> In Spain, the city of [[Marbella]], where the author regularly resided, decreed two days of official mourning.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=14 April 2025 |date=14 April 2025 |language=es |title=Marbella decreta dos días de luto oficial por la muerte de Mario Vargas Llosa, Hijo Adoptivo de la ciudad |url=https://www.abc.es/sevilla/cultura/marbella-decreta-dos-dias-luto-oficial-muerte-20250414160540-nts.html |website=Diario ABC}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

The [[Community of Madrid]] announced that it will posthumously award Vargas Llosa the Medalla Internacional de las Artes.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=14 April 2025 |date=14 April 2025 |first=Comunidad de |language=es |last=Madrid |title=La Comunidad de Madrid concederá la Medalla Internacional de las Artes a Mario Vargas Llosa |url=https://www.comunidad.madrid/noticias/2025/04/14/comunidad-madrid-concedera-medalla-internacional-artes-mario-vargas-llosa |website=Comunidad de Madrid}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

==Impact==
Vargas Llosa is considered a major Latin American writer, alongside other authors such as [[Octavio Paz]], [[Julio Cortázar]], [[Jorge Luis Borges]], [[Gabriel García Márquez]], [[Carlos Fuentes]], and [[Isabel Allende]].<ref name="Castro1">{{Harvnb|Castro-Klarén|1990|p=1}}</ref> In his book ''The New Novel in Latin America'' (''La Nueva Novela''), Fuentes offers an in-depth literary criticism of the positive influence Vargas Llosa's work had on Latin American literature.<ref name="Lamb102">{{Harvnb|Lamb|1971|p=102}}</ref> Indeed, for the literary critic [[Gerald Martin]], writing in 1987, Vargas Llosa was "perhaps the most successful&nbsp;... certainly the most controversial Latin American novelist of the past twenty-five years".<ref>{{Harvnb |Martin|1987|p=205}}</ref>

Most of Vargas Llosa's narratives have been translated into multiple languages, marking his international critical success.<ref name="Castro1" /> Vargas Llosa is also noted for his substantial contribution to journalism, an accomplishment shared by few other Latin American writers.<ref>{{Harvnb |Castro-Klarén|1990|p=2}}</ref> He is recognized among those who have most consciously promoted literature in general—and, more specifically, the novel itself—as avenues for meaningful commentary about life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Muñoz|2000|p=2}}</ref> During his career, he wrote more than a dozen novels and many other books and stories, and, for decades, he was a voice for Latin American literature.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|2001|p=84}}</ref>

A number of Vargas Llosa's works have been adapted for the screen: Peruvian director [[Francisco Lombardi]] adapted ''The Time of the Hero'' as ''[[The City and the Dogs]]'' in 1985 and released [[Captain Pantoja and the Special Services (film)|a film version of ''Captain Pantoja and the Special Services'']] in 1999, and Vargas Llosa's cousin [[Luis Llosa]] [[The Feast of the Goat (film)|adapted ''The Feast of the Goat'']] in 2005.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889771/ |title=Mario Vargas Llosa |access-date=20 March 2008 |publisher=The Internet Movie Database}}</ref> ''Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter'' was turned into the English-language film ''[[Tune in Tomorrow]]'' in 1990. ''The Feast of the Goat'' has also been adapted as a theatrical play by [[Jorge Alí Triana]], a Colombian playwright and director.<ref>{{Harvnb|Navarro|2003|p=}}</ref>

After his death, ''[[The Guardian]]'' described Vargas Llosa as a "giant of Latin American literature",<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lea |first=Richard |last2=Cain |first2=Sian |date=2025-04-14 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa, giant of Latin American literature, dies aged 89 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/14/mario-vargas-llosa-dies-aged-89-cause-of-death |access-date=2025-04-16 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> while ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted his impact "reverberated far beyond the borders of his native country".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Romero |first=Simon |date=2025-04-14 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peruvian Novelist, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/books/mario-vargas-llosa-dead.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' called Vargas Llosa a "Marxist-turned-free-marketeer" who explored themes of "despotism, corruption, and fanaticism" in Latin America.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dubé |first=Ryan |date=2025-04-14 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize-Winning Peruvian Author and Politician, Dies |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/mario-vargas-llosa-nobel-prize-winning-peruvian-author-and-politician-dies-6112c157 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=300
| image1 = Mario Vargas Llosa - Harvard University Honoris Causa Doctorate.jpg
| image2 = Mario Vargas Llosa - University of Cambridge Honoris Causa Doctorate.jpg
| image3 = Mario Vargas Llosa - National University of San Marcos Honoris Causa Doctorate.jpg
| image4 = Mario Vargas Llosa - National University of San Marcos Bachelor's Degree.jpg
| image5 = Mario Vargas Llosa - Nobel Prize A.jpg
| image6 = Mario Vargas Llosa - Nobel Prize C.jpg
| footer = Mario Vargas Llosa awards and honours. From upper left: ''Honoris Causa'' Doctorate from [[Harvard University]]; ''Honoris Causa'' Doctorate from the [[University of Cambridge]]; ''Honoris Causa'' Doctorate and Bachelor's degree from the [[National University of San Marcos]], his ''alma mater''; [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] Medal and Diploma.
}}

Vargas Llosa won numerous awards for his writing, from the 1962 {{lang|es|[[Premio Biblioteca Breve]]}} (for ''The Time of the Hero'')<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rodenas de Moya |first1=Domingo |title=Mario Vargas Llosa, en nueve lecturas |url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-04-14/mario-vargas-llosa-en-nueve-lecturas.html |access-date=14 April 2025 |work=El País |date=14 April 2025 |language=es-MX}}</ref> to the 1993 {{lang|es|[[Premio Planeta]]}} (for ''Death in the Andes'')<ref>{{Cite web |title=Premio Planeta 1993 |url=https://www.premioplaneta.es/edicion/1993.html |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=Premio Planeta}}</ref> and the [[Jerusalem Prize]] in 1995.<ref>{{citation|title=Vargas Llosa Wins The Jerusalem Prize|date=17 January 1995|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5DD1539F934A25752C0A963958260|journal=The New York Times|access-date=20 March 2008}}</ref> The literary critic [[Harold Bloom]] included his novel ''[[The War of the End of the World]]'' in his list of essential literary works in the [[Western Canon]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 September 2019 |title=The Western Canon / Harold Bloom |url=http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/literature/bloom/complete.html#D |access-date=14 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921184722/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/literature/bloom/complete.html#D |archive-date=21 September 2019 |at=The Chaotic Age: 20th Century. Latin America}}</ref>

One important distinction he received was the 1994 [[Miguel de Cervantes Prize]], considered the most important accolade in [[Spanish-language literature]] and awarded to authors whose "work has contributed to enrich, in a notable way, the literary patrimony of the Spanish language".<ref name=cervantes>"cuya obra haya contribuido a enriquecer de forma notable el patrimonio literario en lengua española." {{citation|title=Premio "Miguel de Cervantes"|date=20 March 2012<!-- 16:57:37-->|url=http://www.mcu.es/premios/CervantesPresentacion.html|publisher=Gobierno de España – Ministerio de Cultura|language=es|access-date=12 April 2008}}</ref> In 2002, Vargas was the recipient of the [[PEN/Nabokov Award]].<ref>{{cite web |title=PEN/Nabokov Award for Fiction Winners |url=https://pen.org/pennabokov-award-for-fiction-winners/ |website=PEN America |access-date=14 April 2025 |date=5 May 2016}}</ref> Vargas Llosa also received the 2005 [[Irving Kristol Award]] from the [[American Enterprise Institute]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 January 2005 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa to Receive 2005 Irving Kristol Award |url=https://www.aei.org/press/mario-vargas-llosa-to-receive-2005-irving-kristol-award/ |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=American Enterprise Institute}}</ref> and was the 2008 recipient of the Harold and Ethel L. Stellfox Visiting Scholar and Writers Award at [[Dickinson College]].<ref>{{cite web|date=2 December 2008|title=Honoring the Storyteller|url=http://www.dickinson.edu/news-and-events/publications/extra-features/2008-09/Honoring-the-Storyteller/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605224805/http://www.dickinson.edu/news-and-events/publications/extra-features/2008-09/Honoring-the-Storyteller/|archive-date=5 June 2010|access-date=7 October 2010|publisher=Dickinson College}}</ref>

On 7 October 2010, the [[Swedish Academy]] announced that the [[2010 Nobel Prize in Literature]] was awarded to Vargas Llosa "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".<ref name=":6">[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2010/summary/ The Nobel Prize in Literature 2010] nobelprize.org</ref> The decision to award Vargas Llosa the Nobel Prize in Literature was well received around the world.<ref>[https://elpais.com/cultura/2010/10/07/actualidad/1286402413_850215.html"Es el Nobel a las dos orillas del español"] El País 7 October 2010 (in Spanish)</ref>

On 18 November 2010, Vargas Llosa received an honorary Degree of Letters from the [[City College of New York]] of the [[City University of New York]], where he also delivered the President's Lecture.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa Speaks at CCNY November 18|url=http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/advancement/news/Mario-Vargas-Llosa-Presidents-Lecture.cfm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104061700/http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/advancement/news/Mario-Vargas-Llosa-Presidents-Lecture.cfm|archive-date=4 January 2012|publisher=The City College of New York}}</ref>

On 4 February 2011, Vargas Llosa was elevated to the [[Spanish nobility]] by [[Juan Carlos I of Spain|King Juan Carlos I]] with the hereditary title of [[Marquessate of Vargas Llosa|Marqués de Vargas Llosa]] (Marquess of Vargas Llosa).<ref>{{Cite web|title=BOE.es – Documento BOE-A-2011-2137|url=https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2011-2137|website=www.boe.es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Alcantara|first=Eduardo|date=4 February 2011|title=Mario Vargas Llosa: Jamás imaginé que me harían marqués|url=https://rpp.pe/cultura/literatura/mario-vargas-llosa-jamas-imagine-que-me-harian-marques-noticia-333516|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905110820/http://www.rpp.com.pe/2011-02-04-mario-vargas-llosa-jamas-imagine-que-me-harian-marques-noticia_333516.html|archive-date=5 September 2013|website=RPP}}</ref>

On 25 November 2021, Vargas Llosa was elected to the [[Académie française]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Élection de M. Mario Vargas Llosa (F18)|url=https://www.academie-francaise.fr/actualites/election-de-m-mario-vargas-llosa-f18|date=25 November 2021|access-date=15 December 2021}}</ref>

=== Honours ===
[[File:Piñera condecora a Mario Vargas Llosa.jpg|thumb|Vargas Llosa receiving the Gabriela Mistral Order of Educational and Cultural Merit from President [[Sebastián Piñera]] in 2010]]

<!---* Austria
:[[File:Order of Honour for Science and Art Rib.png|60x60px]] [[Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class|Cross of Honour for Science and Art]]--->
* Chile
:First Class of the {{ill|Gabriela Mistral Order of Educational and Cultural Merit|es|Orden al Mérito Docente y Cultural Gabriela Mistral}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Poblete |first=Juan Correa |date=22 December 2010 |title=Vargas Llosa recibe la Orden Gabriela Mistral |url=https://www.elcomercio.com/tendencias/cultura/vargas-llosa-recibe-orden-gabriela.html |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=El Comercio |language=es}}</ref>
:[[Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit]] (2018)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/cultura/premios/ministerio-de-las-culturas-entrego-orden-al-merito-pablo-neruda-a-mario/2018-05-02/182415.html |title=Ministerio de las Culturas entregó Orden al Mérito Pablo Neruda a Mario Vargas Llosa |trans-title=Ministry of Culture Presents Pablo Neruda Order of Merit to Mario Vargas Llosa |publisher=[[Radio Cooperativa]] |language=es |date=2 May 2018 |access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref>
* Dominican Republic
:Grand Cross with Silver Star of the [[Order of Christopher Columbus]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Presidente Fernández otorga Orden Heráldica de Cristóbal Colón a Vargas Llosa |url=https://noticiassin.com/presidente-fernandez-otorga-orden-heraldica-de-cristobal-colon-a-vargas-llosa-9628/ |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=Noticias SIN |language=es-ES}}</ref>
* France
:Chevalier of the [[Legion of Honour]]<ref name="dw">{{cite web |last1=Breitenbach |first1=Dagmar |title=Adiós a Mario Vargas Llosa, escritor brillante y cosmopolita – DW – 14/04/2025 |url=https://www.dw.com/es/adi%C3%B3s-a-mario-vargas-llosa-escritor-brillante-y-cosmopolita/a-72235953 |website=dw.com |publisher=Deutsche Welle |access-date=14 April 2025 |language=es |date=13 April 2025}}</ref>
:Commander of the [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]<ref name="af">{{cite web |title=Mario VARGAS LLOSA {{!}} Académie française |url=https://www.academie-francaise.fr/les-immortels/mario-vargas-llosa |website=www.academie-francaise.fr |publisher=Académie française |access-date=14 April 2025}}</ref>
* Mexico
:Commander (''Placa'') of the [[Order of the Aztec Eagle]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 March 2011 |title=Vargas Llosa recibe la Orden del Águila Azteca |url=https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/arteseideas/Vargas-Llosa-recibe-la-Orden-del-Aguila-Azteca-20110304-0032.html |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=El Economista}}</ref>
* Nicaragua
:Grand Cross with Silver Star of the [[Order of Rubén Darío]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leon |first=Ariel |date=3 January 2006 |title=Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa speaks after receiving Nicaragua's highest cultural award, the Ruben Dario Cultural Order, during a ceremony in Managua, Nicaragua on Tuesday Jan. 3, 2006. (AP Photo/Ariel Leon Stock Photo – Alamy |url=https://www.alamy.com/peruvian-author-mario-vargas-llosa-speaks-after-receiving-nicaraguas-highest-cultural-award-the-ruben-dario-cultural-order-during-a-ceremony-in-managua-nicaragua-on-tuesday-jan-3-2006-ap-photoariel-leon-image541859196.html |access-date= |website=Alamy |language=en}}</ref>
* Peru
:Member of the [[Peruvian Academy of Language]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mario Vargas Llosa |url=https://apl.org.pe/academicos-de-numero/mario-vargas-llosa/ |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=APL (Acadèmia Peruana de la Llengua) |language=es}}</ref>
:Grand Cross with Diamonds of the [[Order of the Sun of Peru]]<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=9 March 2023 |title=Vargas Llosa es condecorado con la Orden del Sol del Perú y expresa su apoyo a Boluarte |url=https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20230309/vargas-llosa-recibe-condecoracion-orden-sol-peru/2430806.shtml |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=RTVE |language=es}}</ref>
:2011 – Grand Cross of the Medal of Honour of the [[National University of San Marcos]], his ''alma mater''.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=31 March 2011 |title=Peru's San Marcos University honored Vargas Llosa |url=https://andina.pe/agencia/noticia.aspx?id=350942 |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=ANDINA. Empresa Peruana de Servicios Editoriales S. A. |language=es}}</ref>
* Panama
:Grand Cross of the [[Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 November 2011 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa recibe condecoración en Panamá |url=https://www.larepublica.pe/22-11-2011/mario-vargas-llosa-recibe-condecoracion-en-panama |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630114151/http://www.larepublica.pe/22-11-2011/mario-vargas-llosa-recibe-condecoracion-en-pana |archive-date=30 June 2013 |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=LaRepublica.pe}}</ref>
* Philippines
:Honorary Professor, bestowed by the University of Santo Tomas, Manila<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malgapu |first=Hans |date=7 November 2016 |title=UST confers honorary professor title upon Nobel Laureate |url=https://www.ust.edu.ph/ust-confers-honorary-professor-title-upon-nobel-laureate/ |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=University of Santo Tomas |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Spain
:Hereditary [[Marquisate of Vargas Llosa|Marquessate of Vargas Llosa]], bestowed by King [[Juan Carlos I of Spain]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 February 2011 |title=El Rey nombra marqueses a Vargas Llosa y Vicente del Bosque |url=https://www.rtve.es/deportes/20110204/rey-nombra-marques-a-vicente-del-bosque/401157.shtml |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=RTVE |language=es}}</ref>
:Member of the [[Royal Spanish Academy]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2024 |title=Mario Vargas Llosa |url=https://www.rae.es/academico/mario-vargas-llosa |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=Real Academia Española |language=es}}</ref>
:Gold Medal of the [[Community of Madrid]]<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2 May 2015 |title=Vargas Llosa y el Teatro Real reciben la Medalla de Oro del Dos de Mayo |url=https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20150502/vargas-llosa-teatro-real-reciben-medalla-oro-del-dos-mayo/1137901.shtml |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=RTVE.es |language=es}}</ref>

=== Awards ===
[[File:Verleihung des Freiheitspreises 2008 0411.jpg|thumb|Mario Vargas Llosa (2008)]]
* [[Rómulo Gallegos Prize]] (Venezuela, 1967)<ref name=GallegosPrize/>
* [[Prince of Asturias Award for Literature]] (Spain, 1986)<ref>{{cite web|title=Mario Vargas Llosa and Rafael Lapesa, Prince of Asturias Award for Literature 1986|publisher=Prince of Asturias Foundation|url=https://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/1986-mario-vargas-llosa-and-rafael-lapesa-melgar.html|access-date=9 November 2019|archive-date=9 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109191850/https://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/1986-mario-vargas-llosa-and-rafael-lapesa-melgar.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Max Schmidheiny]] Freedom Prize (Switzerland, 1988)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Max Schmidheiny-Stiftung {{!}} Freedom Prize 1979–2003 |url=https://www.max-schmidheiny.foundation/page/en/freiheitspreis/ |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=www.max-schmidheiny.foundation}}</ref>
* [[Miguel de Cervantes Prize]] (Spain, 1994)<ref name="cervantes" />
* [[Nobel Prize for Literature]] (Sweden, 2010)<ref name=":6" />
* [[St. Louis Literary Award]] from the Saint Louis University Library Associates (United States, 2011)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slu.edu/libraries/associates/award.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823003924/http://www.slu.edu/libraries/associates/award.html|url-status=dead|title=Website of St. Louis Literary Award|archive-date=23 August 2016}}</ref>
* [[Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish Language]] (Mexico, 2012)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2012/10/15/mario-vargas-llosa-wins-inaugural-carlos-fuentes-prize/|title=Mario Vargas Llosa wins Inaugural Carlos Fuentes Prize|date=15 October 2012|publisher=[[Fox News|Latino Fox News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018171958/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2012/10/15/mario-vargas-llosa-wins-inaugural-carlos-fuentes-prize/|archive-date=18 October 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=15 October 2012}}</ref>
* {{ill|Pedro Henríquez Ureña International Prize|es|Premio Internacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña}} (Dominican Republic, 2016)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cultura.gob.do/escritor-mario-vargas-llosa-acepta-recibir-premio-internacional-pedro-henriquez-urena-2016/|title=Escritor Mario Vargas Llosa acepta recibir Premio Internacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña 2016|publisher=Ministerio de Cultura|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318003848/http://cultura.gob.do/escritor-mario-vargas-llosa-acepta-recibir-premio-internacional-pedro-henriquez-urena-2016/|archive-date=18 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Invited commencement addresses ===
* 1992 – Boston University<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bu.edu/timeline/category/commencement/page/4/|title=Commencement » Timeline &#124; Boston University|website=www.bu.edu}}</ref>

==Selected works==

===Fiction===
* 1963 – ''La ciudad y los perros'' (''[[The Time of the Hero]]'', 1966, {{ISBN|9780374520212}})
* 1966 – ''La casa verde'' (''[[The Green House]]'', 1968, {{ISBN|9780060732790}})
* 1969 – ''Conversación en La Catedral'' (''[[Conversation in The Cathedral]]'', 1975, {{ISBN|9780060732806}})
* 1973 – ''Pantaleón y las visitadoras'' (''[[Captain Pantoja and the Special Service]]'', 1978, {{ISBN|9780571148189}})
* 1977 – ''La tía Julia y el escribidor'' (''[[Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter]]'', 1982, {{ISBN|9780312427245}})
* 1981 – ''La guerra del fin del mundo'' (''[[The War of the End of the World]]'', 1985, {{ISBN|9780312427986}})
* 1984 – ''Historia de Mayta'' (''The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta'', 1986, {{ISBN|9780374525552}})
* 1986 – ''¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero?'' (''[[Who Killed Palomino Molero?]]'', 1987, {{ISBN|9780374525569}})
* 1987 – ''El hablador'' (''[[The Storyteller (Vargas Llosa novel)|The Storyteller]]'', 1989, {{ISBN|9780312420284}})
* 1988 – ''Elogio de la madrastra'' (''[[In Praise of the Stepmother]]'', 1990, {{ISBN|9780312421304}})
* 1993 – ''Lituma en los Andes'' (''[[Death in the Andes]]'', 1996, {{ISBN|9780312427252}})
* 1997 – ''Los cuadernos de don Rigoberto'' (''The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto'', 1998, {{ISBN|9780571195756}})
* 2000 – ''La fiesta del chivo'' (''[[The Feast of the Goat]]'', 2001, {{ISBN|9780312420277}})
* 2003 – ''El paraíso en la otra esquina'' (''[[The Way to Paradise]]'', 2003, {{ISBN|9780312424039}})
* 2006 – ''Travesuras de la niña mala'' (''[[The Bad Girl]]'', 2007, {{ISBN|9780571234110}})
* 2010 – ''El sueño del celta'' (''[[The Dream of the Celt]]'', 2012, {{ISBN|9780374143466}})
* 2013 – ''El héroe discreto'' (''The Discreet Hero'', 2015, {{ISBN|9780374146740}})
* 2016 – ''Cinco esquinas'' (''[[The Neighborhood (novel)|The Neighborhood]]'', 2018, {{ISBN|978-0-374-15512-4}})
* 2019 – ''Tiempos Recios'' (''[[Harsh Times (novel)|Harsh Times]]'', 2021, {{ISBN|978-0-374-60123-2}})
* 2023 – ''Le dedico mi silencio'' ({{ISBN|9781644739563}})

===Non-fiction===
* 1958 – ''Bases para una interpretación de Rubén Darío'' (''[[Foundations for an Interpretation of Rubén Darío]]'', {{OCLC|48811330}})
* 1971 – ''García Márquez: historia de un deicidio'' (''García Márquez: Story of a Deicide'', {{OCLC|1011301}})
* 1975 – ''La orgía perpetua: Flaubert y "Madame Bovary"'' (''[[The Perpetual Orgy]]'', {{ISBN|843220286X}})
* 1978 – ''La utopía arcaica: José María Arguedas y las ficciones del indigenismo'' (''Archaic utopia: José María Arguedas and the fictions of indigenismo'', {{ISBN|9681648625}})
* 1990 – ''La verdad de las mentiras: ensayos sobre la novela moderna'' (''A Writer's Reality'', {{ISBN|8432206180}})
* 1993 – ''El pez en el agua. Memorias'' (''[[A Fish in the Water]]'', {{ISBN|8432206792}})
* 1997 – ''Cartas a un joven novelista'' (''[[Letters to a Young Novelist]]'', {{ISBN|9684065043}})
* 2000 – ''Nationalismus als neue Bedrohung'' (''Nationalism as a new threat'')<ref name=Kordi>[[#refKordicRev2005|Kordić 2005]], pp. 265–268.</ref>
* 2001 – ''El lenguaje de la pasión'' (''The Language of Passion'', {{ISBN|8403092121}})
* 2004 – ''La tentación de lo imposible'' (''[[The Temptation of the Impossible]]'', {{ISBN|9780691131115}})
* 2007 – ''Touchstones: Essays on Literature, Art, and Politics'', {{ISBN|9780571214990}}
* 2008 – ''Wellsprings''<ref name="wellsprings">{{cite book|last1=Vargas Llosa|first1=Mario|title=Wellsprings|date=May 2008|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02836-4|url=https://archive.org/details/wellsprings00varg|access-date=24 February 2018}}</ref>
* 2009 – ''El viaje a la ficción: El mundo de Juan Carlos Onetti'' ({{ISBN|9786034016965}})
* 2009 – ''Sables y utopías: Visiones de América Latina'' ({{ISBN|9781603966573}}
* 2011 – ''In Praise of Reading and Fiction: The Nobel Lecture'' ({{ISBN|9781250907837}}
* 2012 – ''La civilización del espectáculo'', {{ISBN|9786123090340}}
* 2015 – ''Notes on the Death of Culture'' ({{ISBN|9780374710316}})
* 2018 – ''La llamada de la tribu'' ({{ISBN|9781947783393}})
* 2022 – ''La mirada quieta'' ({{ISBN|9781644735978}})

===Drama===
* 1952 – ''La huida del inca''<ref name="obrasdeteatro">{{cite web |title=Del papel a la escena: las obras de Vargas Llosa adaptadas al cine, teatro y televisión |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/del-papel-a-la-escena:-las-obras-de-vargas-llosa-adaptadas-al-cine,-teatro-y-televisi%C3%B3n/89163266 |website=[[swissinfo.ch]] |access-date=15 April 2025 |language=es |date=14 April 2025}}</ref>
* 1981 – ''La señorita de Tacna''<ref name="obrasdeteatro"/>
* 1983 – ''Kathie y el hipopótamo''<ref name="obrasdeteatro"/>
* 1986 – ''La Chunga''<ref name="obrasdeteatro"/>
* 1993 – ''El loco de los balcones''<ref name="obrasdeteatro"/>
* 1996 – ''Ojos bonitos, cuadros feos''<ref name="criticalinsights">{{cite book |editor1-last=de Castro |editor1-first=Juan |title=Critical Insights: Mario Vargas Llosa |date=2014 |publisher=Salem Press |pages=248{{ndash}}249}}</ref>
* 2007 – ''Odiseo y Penélope''<ref name="obrasdeteatro"/>
* 2008 – ''Al pie del Támesis''<ref name="criticalinsights"/>
* 2010 – ''Las mil y una noches''<ref name="criticalinsights"/>

Vargas Llosa's essays and journalism have been collected as ''{{lang|es|Contra viento y marea}}'', issued in three volumes (1983, 1986, and 1990).<ref name="criticalinsights"/> A selection (plus selected works from ''{{lang|es|La verdad de las mentiras}}'' y ''{{lang|es|Desafíos a libertad}}'') has been edited by John King and translated and published as ''Making Waves'' ({{ISBN|978-0140275568}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Making waves – Mario Vargas Llosa |url=https://www.agenciabalcells.com/autores/obra/mario-vargas-llosa/making-waves-seleccion-de-john-king/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |website=Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells |language=es}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Latin American Boom]]
* [[Latin American literature]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|colwidth=60em}}
* {{citation|last=Armas Marcelo|first=J. J.|title=Vargas Llosa, el vicio de escribir|location=Madrid|publisher=Alfaguara|year=2002|isbn=978-84-204-4286-0|language=es|postscript=.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/vargasllosaelvic0000arma}}
* {{citation |last1=Boland |first1=Roy |last2=Harvey|first2=Sally |title=Mario Vargas Llosa: From Pantaleón y las visitadoras to Elogio de la madrastra |publisher=Antipodas, the Journal of Hispanic Studies of the University of Auckland / VOX/AHS |year=1988 |location=Auckland |isbn=978-0-9597858-1-4|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=Booker |first=M. Keith |title=Vargas Llosa Among the Postmodernists |place=Gainesville, FL |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-8130-1248-3 |postscript=. |url=https://archive.org/details/vargasllosaamong00book }}
* {{citation|last1=Campos |first1=Jorge |first2=Jose Miguel|last2=Oviedo |title=Vargas Llosa y su Guerra del fin del mundo |place=Madrid |publisher=Taurus Ediciones |year=1981 |isbn=978-84-306-2131-6 }}
* {{citation |last=Castro-Klarén |first=Sara |title=Understanding Mario Vargas Llosa |location=Columbia, SC |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-87249-668-2 |postscript=. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingmar0000cast_r5w7 }}
* {{citation|last=Cevallos |first=Francisco Javier |title=García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, and Literary Criticism: Looking Back Prematurely |journal=Latin American Research Review |volume=26|issue=1 |year=1991 |pages=266–275|publisher=Latin American Research Review, Vol. 26, No. 1 |doi=10.1017/S0023879100035020 |postscript=. |jstor=2503775|s2cid=252938607 |doi-access=free }}
* {{citation|last=Coca|first=César|title=30 años después de la ruptura con García Márquez, Vargas Llosa desvela las claves literarias y personales|journal=Hoy|date=27 August 2006|language=es|url=http://www.hoy.es/prensa/20060827/sociedad/anos-despues-ruptura-garcia_20060827.html|access-date=16 April 2008|postscript=.|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016221843/http://www.hoy.es/prensa/20060827/sociedad/anos-despues-ruptura-garcia_20060827.html|url-status=dead}}
* {{citation|first=Noam|last=Cohen|title=García Márquez's Shiner Ends Its 31 Years of Quietude|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/books/29marq.html?_r=1&em&ex=11&oref=slogin|journal=The New York Times|date=29 March 2007|access-date=31 March 2008|postscript=.}}
* {{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2007/jan/10/letshearitforliteraryfeud|first=Guy|last=Dammann|title=Let's hear it for literary feuds|date=10 January 2007|access-date=7 October 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=Fernández |first=Casto Manuel |title=Aproximación formal a la novelística de Vargas Llosa |language=es |location=Madrid |publisher=Editora Nacional |year=1977 |isbn=978-84-276-0383-7 |postscript=. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/aproximacionform0000fern }}
* {{citation|last=Franco |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Franco |title=The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City: Latin America in the Cold War |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-674-00842-7|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=Gussow |first=Mel |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E4DD113BF93BA15750C0A9649C8B63 |title=Lacing his Fiction with History: Vargas Llosa Keeps a Latin American Literary Boom Booming |newspaper=The New York Times |volume=151 |issue=52071 |access-date=27 March 2008 |date=28 March 2002 |postscript=. }}
* {{citation|last=Harrison|first=Kathryn|title=Dangerous Obsession|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/books/review/Harrison.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 October 2007|access-date=14 April 2008|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=Heawood |first=Jonathan |title=Past Master: Review of Mario Vargas Llosa, ''The Way to Paradise'' |journal=New Statesman |volume=132 |issue=4665 |date=24 November 2003 |page=55 |url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=11449072&site=ehost-live |access-date=7 April 2008 |postscript=. |url-access=subscription }}
* {{citation|last=Igartua |first=Francisco |title=Huellas de un destierro |place=Lima |publisher=Aguilar |year=1998 |isbn=978-9972-00-266-3|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=Kirk |first=Robin |title=The Monkey's Paw: New Chronicles from Peru |place=Amherst, MA |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-55849-109-0 |postscript=. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/monkeyspawnewchr0000kirk }}
* {{citation|last=Koellmann |first=Sabine |title=Vargas Llosa's Fiction and the Demons of Politics |place=Oxford |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2002 |isbn=978-3-906768-54-0|postscript=.}}
* {{citation|last=Koellmann |first=Sabine |title=A Companion to Mario Vargas Llosa |place=Woodbridge |publisher=Tamesis|year=2014 |isbn=978-1-85566-269-8|postscript=.}}
* {{citation|last=Kokotovic |first=Micha |title=The Colonial Divide in Peruvian Narrative: Social Conflict and Transculturation |place=Brighton |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |year=2007|isbn=978-1-84519-184-9 |postscript=.}}
* <cite id=refKordicRev2005>{{cite journal |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=Anatomija nacionalizma: recenzija knjige Maria Vargasa Llose, ''Nationalismus als neue Bedrohung'' |trans-title=Anatomy of nationalism: Review of Mario Vargas Llosa's, ''Nationalism as a new threat'' |url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/428106.rec._LLOSA.PDF |language=sh |journal=Književna Republika |location=Zagreb |volume=3 |issue=5–6 |pages=265–268 |year=2005 |issn=1334-1057 |id={{CROSBI|428106}}. {{ZDB|2122129-7}} |archive-date=29 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529002720/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/428106.rec._LLOSA.PDF |access-date=3 May 2019 }} [http://opak.crolib.hr/cgi-bin/unicat.cgi?form=D1300724096 (CROLIB)].</cite>
* {{citation|last=Kristal |first=Efraín |title=Temptation of the Word: The Novels of Mario Vargas Llosa |location=Nashville, TN|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-8265-1301-4|postscript=.}}
* {{citation|last=Larsen |first=Neil |title=Mario Vargas Llosa: The Realist as Neo-liberal |journal=Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies |volume=9 |issue=2 |year=2000 |pages=155–179 |doi=10.1080/713679233 |s2cid=191650802 |postscript=. }}
* {{citation |last=Lamb |first=Ruth S |title=El mundo mítico en la nueva novela latino americana |journal=Centro Virtual Cervantes |year=1971 |pages=101–108 |publisher=AIH Actas IV |location=Claremont, CA |url=http://cvc.cervantes.es/obref/aih/pdf/04/aih_04_2_010.pdf |access-date=7 April 2008 |postscript=. }}
* {{citation|last=Martin |first=Gerald |author-link=Gerald Martin |chapter=Mario Vargas Llosa: Errant Knight of the Liberal Imagination|title=Modern Latin American Fiction: A Survey|editor=John King|place=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|year=1987|pages=205–233|postscript=.}}
* Martí-Peña, Guadalupe."Presencia/Ausencia y Différance en Elogio de la madrastra y Los cuadernos de don Rigoberto de Mario Vargas Llosa." In Mario Vargas Llosa: ''Perspectivas Críticas: Ensayos Inéditos''. Ed. Pol Popovic. U. Tecnológico de Monterrey Press, 2009. pp.&nbsp;365–402.
* Martí-Peña, Guadalupe. "El teatro del ser: dualidad y desdoblamiento en la escenificación narrativa de Los cuadernos de don Rigoberto de Mario Vargas Llosa." ''Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos'' 28.2 (2004): 355–75.
* {{cite book|last1=Miles|first1=Valerie|author-link=Valerie Miles|title=A Thousand Forests in One Acorn|date=2014|publisher=Open Letter|location=Rochester|isbn=978-1-934824-91-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/thousandforestsi0000unse/page/313 313–325]|url=https://archive.org/details/thousandforestsi0000unse/page/313}}
* {{citation|last=Morote|first=Herbert|title=Vargas Llosa, tal cual|location=Lima|publisher=Jaime Campodónico|language=es|year=1998|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=Mujica |first=Barbara |title=Review of Mario Vargas Llosa, ''The Way to Paradise'' |journal=Américas |volume=56 |issue=2 |date=March–April 2004 |page=45 |url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=12400192&site=ehost-live |access-date=8 April 2008 |postscript=. }}
* {{citation|last=Muñoz|first=Braulio|title=A Storyteller: Mario Vargas Llosa between Civilization and Barbarism|location=Lanham, ML|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8476-9750-2|postscript=.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/storytellermario0000muno}}
* {{citation|last=Navarro|first=Mireya|title=Spring Theater: Political Theater; At the Intersection Of Ruler and Ruled|journal=The New York Times|date=23 February 2003|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E1DC163DF930A15751C0A9659C8B63|access-date=19 March 2008|postscript=.}}
* {{citation|last=Parker|first=Emily|title=Storyteller: The Famous Novelist on Politics, and How Writing Can Change the Course of History|journal=Wall Street Journal|date=23 June 2007|url=http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?issn=110010248|access-date=6 March 2008|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=[[Jaime Perales Contreras|Perales Contreras]] |first=Jaime |title=Review on Historia de un Deicidio, en obras completas, vol. VI, Tomo I., in Americas Magazine, Organization of American States, July–August 2007 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2043/is_4_59/ai_n29360449/ |work=Americas |year=2007 |postscript=. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114010457/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2043/is_4_59/ai_n29360449/ |archive-date=14 November 2011 }}
* {{citation|last=Reding|first=Andrew|jstor=40209208|title=Mexico: The Crumbling of the "Perfect Dictatorship"|journal=World Policy Journal|date=Spring 1991|volume=8|issue=2|pages=255–284}}
* {{citation|last=Setti |first=Ricardo A. |title=Dialogos y Conferencias de Vargas Llosa |place=Madrid, Spain |publisher=Editora Inter Mundo. |year=1989 |isbn=978-84-86663-01-8}}
* {{citation|last1=Shaw |first1=D.L. |author-link=Donald Shaw (writer and professor) |title=Review of Vargas Llosa, ''García Márquez: historia de un deicidio'' |journal=The Modern Language Review |volume=68|issue=2 |year=1973 |pages=430–431 |location=Glasgow|doi=10.2307/3725901|publisher=The Modern Language Review, Vol. 68, No. 2 |postscript=. |jstor=3725901}}
* {{citation |last=Vargas Llosa |first=Mario |title=The Way to Paradise |location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-374-22803-3 |postscript=. |url=https://archive.org/details/waytoparadise00varg }} Trans. [[Natasha Wimmer]].
* {{citation |last1=Van Delden |first1=Maarten |last2=Grenier|first2=Yvon |title=Gunshots at the fiesta, Literature and Politics in Latin America (see chap on Vargas Llosa)|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press / VOX/AHS |year=2009 |location=Tennessee |isbn=978-0-8265-1633-6|postscript=.}}
* {{citation |last=Vincent |first=Elizabeth |title=Interview with Mario Vargas Llosa |journal=Maclean's |date=27 August 2007 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/culture/media/article.jsp?content=20070827_108283_108283 |access-date=22 March 2008 |postscript=. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206001401/http://www.macleans.ca/culture/media/article.jsp?content=20070827_108283_108283 |archive-date=6 February 2008 }}
* {{citation |last=Williams |first=Raymond L. |title=Vargas Llosa: otra historia de un deicidio |location=Mexico |publisher=Taurus |year=2001 |isbn=978-968-19-0814-0 |postscript=. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/vargasllosaotrah0000will }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project auto}}

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