The Autumn Of The Patriarch

As the citizens of an unnamed Caribbean nation creep through dusty corridors in search of their tyrannical leader, they cannot comprehend that the frail and withered man lying dead on the floor can be the self-styled General of the Universe. Their arrogant, maniacally violent leader, known for serving up traitors to dinner guests and drowning young children at sea, can surely not die the humiliating death of a mere mortal? Tracing the demands of a man whose egocentric excesses mask the loneliness of isolation and whose lies have become so ingraine that they are indistinguishable from truth, Márquez has created a fantastical portrait of despotism that rings with an air of reality. ‘Delights with its quirky humanity and black humour and impresses by its total originality’ ‘Captures perfectly the moral squalor and political paralysis that enshrouds a society awaiting the death of a long-term dictator’