Product Description

While the economy of his small South American country collapses, President Veracruz joins his improbable populace of ex-soldiers, former guerrillas, unfrocked priests and reformed - though by no means inactive - whores, in a bizarre search for sexual fulfilment. But for Cardinal Guzman, a man tormented by his own private daemons, their stupendous, hedonistic fiestas represent the epicentre of all heresies. Heresies that must be challenged with a horrifying new inquisition destined to climax in a spectacular confrontation...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40813 in Books
• Published on: 1993-04-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Louis de Bernieres is the best-selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best Book in 1995. His most recent novel is A Partisan's Daughter

Customer Reviews

A charmingly entoxicating medley of human nonsense and magic
De Bernieres has designed a motley cast of improbable animals, humans and demons, and fashioned it into a delightful story of good defeating evil. Never have I laughed so much at an essentially clever book. The Troublesome Offspring is Asterix the Gaul without the need for pictures. Wise, provocative and naughty, it is a book that you will never forget. Read it.

Funny, disturbing and could even make me cry
What a marvellous book. The final installment in a trilogy (possibly - I was hoping there may be one more, as I had a few loose ends I wanted tied up...) does manage to stand as a book in its own right - I read it before the first two in the series, and enjoyed it mightily. The satire is perhaps a little obvious, but the author is an astounding clever chap for making the reader feel sympathy for the monstrous Cardinal... I was genuinely disturbed by some scenes that involved demons - I still don't like to think about them late at night! Beautifully told, as all works by Mr de Berniers seem to be. But do try to read it in the correct order of the trilogy - I am sure it would be better!...

More than just Captain Corelli
Let me lay my cards on the table. I have had more enjoyment reading Louis de Bernieres South American trilogy (of which this is the last) than any other book series. Ever. The juxtapositioning of farcical humour and searing heart ache is like a drug. I burst out loud reading of Don Emmanuel's entertainment of the British Ambassador. I had to stop and control myself when reading of the child deaths at the hands of the Catholic brigands. This is no ordinary author. This is no ordinary trilogy. The manner de Bernieres weaves matter-of-factness with ridiculous magic makes this book series like a new kingdom to explore. Do Jaguars really smell of strawberries and like chocolate? Do itinerate preachers levitate mid sermon? How do you control fifty Spanish Conquistadors that have just been defrosted from 300 years in a glacier? I have no idea where his ideas have come from. Coca leaves, perhaps? Just one important instruction (brought about by the frequent and brief references to previous chapters) - you must read the trilogy in the correct order:

Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord

The War Of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts

The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman