The Sound of Things Falling

Publisher Marketing: From a global literary star comes a prize-winning tour de force an intimate portrayal of the drug wars in Colombia. Juan Gabriel Vasquez has been hailed not only as one of South America s greatest literary stars, but also as one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation. In this gorgeously wrought, award-winning novel, Vasquez confronts the history of his home country, Colombia. In the city of Bogota, Antonio Yammara reads an article about a hippo that had escaped from a derelict zoo once owned by legendary Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The article transports Antonio back to when the war between Escobar s Medellin cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia s streets and in the skies above. Back then, Antonio witnessed a friend s murder, an event that haunts him still. As he investigates, he discovers the many ways in which his own life and his friend s family have been shaped by his country s recent violent past. His journey leads him all the way back to the 1960s and a world on the brink of change: a time before narco-trafficking trapped a whole generation in a living nightmare. Vasquez is one of the most original new voices of Latin American literature, according to Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, and "The Sound of Things Falling" is his most personal, most contemporary novel to date, a masterpiece that takes his writing and will take his literary star even higher." Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 07/06/2014 pg. 24 (EAN 9781594632747, Paperback) Library Journal Prepub Alert 03/15/2013 pg. 92 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 06/10/2013 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2013 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Library Journal 07/01/2013 pg. 75 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Booklist 07/01/2013 pg. 31 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) - *Starred Review New York Times Book Review 08/04/2013 pg. 1 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) Shelf Awareness 08/06/2013 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 08/11/2013 pg. 22 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) Entertainment Weekly 08/16/2013 pg. 12 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/08/2013 pg. 27 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) Booklist Editors Choice/Adult 01/01/2014 pg. 11 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) Library Journal 10/01/2014 pg. 44 (EAN 9781594487484, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Criticas 06/01/2011 pg. 1 (EAN 9781616056117, Paperback) Contributor Bio:  Vasquez, Juan Gabriel Juan Gabriel Vasquezwas born in Bogota in 1973. His books include the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin award winner and national bestseller, The Sound of Things Falling, as well as the award-winningThe InformersandThe Secret History of Costaguana. Vasquez's books have been published in seventeen languages world-wide, and he is the recipient of the Prix Roger Caillois in France and the Alfaguara Prize in Spain. After sixteen years in France, Belgium, and Spain, he now lives inBogota. Contributor Bio:  McLean, Anne Anne McLean has won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize twice, as well as the Premio Valle Incla n. She has translated the works of Javier Cercas, Julio Cortazar, Carmen Martin Gaite, Ignacio Padilla, and Evelio Rosero.