{"product_id":"cinco-esquinas-the-neighborhood","title":"Cinco esquinas \/ The Neighborhood","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eA novel by Nobel Prize in Literature laureateMario Vargas Llosa\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e“He had thought that, after all, a journalist can sometimes be useful. ‘And also dangerous,’ he concluded. He had a premonition that nothing good would come of this visit.”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The idea for this novel began with an image of two women who are friends and who, suddenly one night—in a way neither of them could have imagined—find themselves in an erotic situation. It then gradually evolved into a detective story, almost a thriller, and the thriller gradually transformed into a kind of portrait of Peruvian society during the final months or weeks of the Fujimori and Montesinos dictatorship. I liked the idea of naming the story *Cinco Esquinas* after a neighborhood that, in a way, is emblematic of Lima, of Peru, and also of the era in which the story is set.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If there is one theme that permeates and infuses the entire story, it is journalism—sensationalist journalism. The Fujimori dictatorship used sensationalist journalism—scandal journalism—as a political weapon to discredit and morally destroy all its adversaries. At the same time, there is also the other side: how journalism—which can be vile and sordid—can suddenly become an instrument of liberation and of a society’s moral and civic defense. These two sides of journalism are one of the central themes of *Five Corners*.” —Mario Vargas Llosa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eENGLISH DESCRIPTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA thrilling tale of desire and Peruvian corruption swirls around a scandalous exposé that leads to murder\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eFrom the Nobel Laureate comes a politically charged detective novel weaving through the underbelly of Peruvian privilege. In the 1990s, during the turbulent and deeply corrupt years of Alberto Fujimori’s presidency, two wealthy couples of Lima’s high society become embroiled in a disturbing vortex of erotic adventures and politically driven blackmail. \u003cbr\u003eOne day Enrique, a high-profile businessman, receives a visit from Rolando Garro, the editor of a notorious magazine that specializes in salacious exposés. Garro presents Enrique with lewd pictures from an old business trip and demands that he invest in the magazine. Enrique refuses, and the next day the pictures are on the front page. Meanwhile, Enrique’s wife is in the midst of a passionate and secret affair with the wife of Enrique’s lawyer and best friend. When Garro shows up murdered, the two couples are thrown into a whirlwind of navigating Peru’s unspoken laws and customs, while the staff of the magazine embark on their greatest exposé yet.\u003cbr\u003eIronic and sensual, provocative and redemptive, the novel swirls into the kind of restless realism that has become Mario Vargas Llosa’s signature style. A twisting, unpredictable tale, \u003ci\u003eThe Neighborhood\u003c\/i\u003e is at once a scathing indictment of Fujimori’s regime and a crime thriller that evokes the vulgarity of freedom in a corrupt system.","brand":"National Geographic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57665073873240,"sku":"9788466343121","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0925\/8464\/0856\/files\/11951633485202.jpg?v=1783479828","url":"https:\/\/us.plasticbooks.com\/en\/products\/cinco-esquinas-the-neighborhood","provider":"Plastic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}