The Shape of the Ruins

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

A sweeping tale of conspiracy theories, assassinations, and twisted obsessions -- the much anticipated masterpiece from Juan Gabriel V squez.

The Shape of the Ruins is a masterly story of conspiracy, political obsession, and literary investigation. When a man is arrested at a museum for attempting to steal the bullet-ridden suit of a murdered Colombian politician, few notice. But soon this thwarted theft takes on greater meaning as it becomes a thread in a widening web of popular fixations with conspiracy theories, assassinations, and historical secrets; and it haunts those who feel that only they know the real truth behind these killings.

This novel explores the darkest moments of a country's past and brings to life the ways in which past violence shapes our present lives. A compulsive read, beautiful and profound, eerily relevant to our times and deeply personal, The Shape of the Ruins is a tour-de-force story by a master at uncovering the incisive wounds of our memories.

Author: Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 09/24/2019
Pages: 544
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.40d
ISBN13: 9780735211155
ISBN10: 0735211159
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Literary
- Fiction | Political
- Fiction | Historical | General

About the Author
Juan Gabriel Vásquez's previous books include the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award winner and national bestseller The Sound of Things Falling, as well as the award-winning Reputations, The Informers, The Secret History of Costaguana, and the story collection Lovers on All Saints' Day. Vásquez's novels have been published in twenty-eight languages worldwide. After sixteen years in France, Belgium, and Spain, he now lives in Bogotá.

Anne McLean translates Latin American and Spanish novels, short stories, memoirs, and other writings. She has twice won both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán, and received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Juan Gabriel Vásquez for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. She lives in Toronto.