INTERNATIONAL ROMULO GALLEGOS NOVEL PRIZE 2011 (most prestigious prize given to a single novel in the Spanish language) NATIONAL CRITICS PRIZE 2011 (best novel of the year written in Spanish, awarded in Spain) THE BEST NOVEL IN SPANISH OF THE YEAR 2010 (chose by 55 critics & journalists of El País) Author taught at American universities for three decades, including at Princeton, and has deep connections to universities, bookstores, and with American writers First novel published in English in 12 years, huge anticipation among fans of Latin American literature and of his earlier works
