The Feast of the Goat

A Novel

By: Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman - translator

Narrated by: Alejandro Vargas-Lugo, Coral Peña, Ian Guerra

Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of The Nobel Prize in Literature

In The Feast of the Goat, this 'masterpiece of Latin American and world literature, and one of the finest political novels ever written' (Bookforum), Mario Vargas Llosa recounts the end of a regime and the birth of a terrible democracy, giving voice to the historical Trujillo and the victims, both innocent and complicit, drawn into his deadly orbit.

Haunted all her life by feelings of terror and emptiness, 49-year-old Urania Cabral returns to her native Dominican Republic - and finds herself reliving the events of 1961, when the capital was still called Trujillo City and one old man terrorized a nation of three million. Rafael Trujillo, the depraved ailing dictator whom Dominicans call the Goat, controls his inner circle with a combination of violence and blackmail. In Trujillo's gaudy palace, treachery and cowardice have become a way of life. But Trujillo's grasp is slipping. There is a conspiracy against him, and a Machiavellian revolution already underway that will have bloody consequences of its own.

"A fierce, edgy and enthralling book ... Mr. Vargas Llosa has pushed the boundaries of the traditional historical novel, and in doing so has written a book of harrowing power and lasting resonance." (The New York Times)

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2011 Mario Vargas Llosa (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“[Vargas Llosa] is one of our greatest and most influential novelists. His new novel confirms his importance. In the world of fiction his continued exploration of the often-perilous intersection of politics and life has enriched 20th-century literature.... In The Feast of the Goat, Vargas Llosa paints a portrait that is darkly comic, poignant, admirable and horrifying all at once.” (Los Angeles Times)

“The book brings readers to the precipice of terror and lets us look into the abyss of cruelty as it poses and answers the question: Why do people not oppose dictators?... He has by his body of work already secured a place as one of the monumental writers of our time.” (The Boston Globe)

Extremely well written

I’m a descendant of a couple that left during Trujillo’s time. I had been hearing about the horrors all my life but I had no idea how terrible it was. Mario Vargas Llosa writes an powerful story describing to the maximum his personality, the personality of all the horrible men that surrounded him and supported his reign of terror.
Also the voice performance of the actors was amazing. I feel like I watched a well done movie. Great book, great writing and great performance.

Exceptional

Extraordinary - characters, story line, historic summary/insight - truly engaging, educational, an eye-opener not to be missed!

great book! the one you never forget.

wish I could listen to other books written by this genius writer. I'm really impressed.

Great Latin American Dictator Novel

BOOK: One of MVL's better novels; I wish more were available as English-language audiobooks. The story of the fall of the Trujillo regime is tense and bloody, and parts of this book are very grim to listen to, but MVL also puts a lot of humanity and passion into it. Maybe 2 hours too long., and when MVL is being Very Serious his writing can be somewhat stilted and expository. But highly recommended nonetheless.

NARRATION: One of the best multi-narrator books I have listened to. All 3 narrators seem fully invested in the characters, the language, and their parts of the story. Alejandro Vargas-Lugo, who reads the Trujillo and Balaguer chapters, is one of the best voice actors I have ever heard. This is 1 of only 2 titles with him that are available in English on Audible. I hope there will be more -- I would listen to him read the phone book!

Superb story, excellent, audio performance.

Llosa Is an author of the highest level, and the audio production was extraordinary. I’ve never heard of better audio narration of any book.

Piercing and Profound

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This book is about the Dictator Trujillo and his brutalization of the Dominican Republic from 1930-61. Over 50,000 Dominicans ‘disappeared’ over that time, their bodies fed to the sharks off the coast. People did things to friends and neighbors in the name of loyalty to their Dear Leader, whose appetite was voracious. He promoted ‘Law and Order’ and nationalism while systematically suborning all the machinery of society to his own whims. If nothing else this book will demonstrate the fallacy of following a cult of personality, and just how superficial and ultimately futile it is to try and be a part of that movement. The book won a Nobel prize in literature. The dictator’s story is universal, tragic and common in human history. It will go on if people remain uneducated and idle.

Compelling

A brilliant recreation of the Trujillo era and his demise. Perfect narration. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of the DR. Although some characters are fictional composites, most are real people. A penetrating look inside the minds of a ruthless dictator and his toadies.

Compelling

I suspect like many Americans, I have very little knowledge of the life and times of the Trujillo dictatorship and the United States' own involvement in his crimes. So I cannot speak to the historical accuracy of this novel. However, I found this fictionalized version very compelling. It slowed down a little bit for me towards the end but for the first three quarters or so, I was completely in its grip. The narrators were great and the language seemed very smooth, as I would expect from an Edith Grossman translation. Definitely feel like I need to learn more about the Dominican Republic.

Great story

Story line, writing and performances are
captivating , I could not stop listening . The ending brought it all together

Captivating

Vargas Llosa is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, and there are some difficult moments to get through in this novel. However, how he portrays this time of Dominican history and the process of healing afterwards is compelling. One of my favorites from him.