¡Feliz cumpleaños, Mario!

Today in 1936, in Arequipa, Peru, Mario Vargas Llosa was born. One of the great writers in the Latin American Boom, author of several brilliant novels (especially The Green House), Varga Llosa ran for the presidency of Peru, winning the first round but losing the run-off to Alberto Fujimori. He lives in London most of the time, returning to Peru for several months each year, and continues to write - his latest novel is 2006's The Bad Girl.

His semi-autobiographical account of his courtship and marriage, Aunt Julie and the Scriptwriter (it's only fair to say that Julie wrote her own book, What Little Vargas Didn't Say, in response) was made into one of my favorite movies, the quirky (and fairly unknown) Tune in Tomorrow.