This work by the renowned Peruvian author allows us to glimpse into the key years of his youth until his candidacy for President of Peru. These are stark, unadorned truths revealed through his hypnotic and masterly prose. The strained relationship between the author and his harsh, violent father, the discovery of his calling as a writer as a means to oppose parental authoritarianism, the precocious bohemia, the hasty wedding with la tia Julia (aunt Julia) and the short, yet intense, political career of the writer.