Mario Vargas Llosa is not my favorite Peruvian writer of the 60s and 70s. That would be Alfredo Bryce Echenique, who is every bit as pituco, limeño, upper-middle class, white, and isolated from the rest of the country as Vargas Llosa. Even more so! But Bryce made a name for himself by skewering his snobbish bubble and staying in his lane. He never offered all-encompassing theories about Peru’s problems nor any solutions. For that and his impeccable humor, he is mostly beloved.