A Supreme Latin American Novel

It is arguably the best novel ever written in Latin America and without doubt the best of that sui genereis Latin American genre: the dictatorial novel. I The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos is a dense, complex and multilayered narrative dealing with the creation not only of the Paraguayan nation but also Paraguayan literature itself and the veracity of historical narration. Written at a time when the longest dictatorship of the continent, General Alfredo Stroessner, was still in power in Asunción. It is a novel for readers of novels and the book that for many closes gloriously the so called Latin American Literature Boom. This recording was made in front of a live audience at the Instituto Cervantes in London as part of the series Authors in Search of a Reader. Presented by the institute's Director, Ignacio Peyro, and with the magistral presence of Professor John Kraniauskas from Birkbeck College in conversation with Juan Toledo.