The troublesome offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1st Vintage International ed.)

With the same ebullient storytelling, luxuriant prose, and irrepressible eroticism he brought to The War of Don Emmanuel s Nether Parts and Seor Vivo and the Coca Lord, Louis de Bernires continues his chronicle of Cochadebajo, the Andean village where macho philosophers, defrocked priests, and reformed (though hardly inactive) prostitutes cohabit in cheerful anarchy.

But this unruly utopia is imperiled when the demon-harried Cardinal Guzman decides to inaugurate a new Inquisition, with Cochadebajo as its ultimate target.

On his side, the Cardinal has an army of fanatics who are all too willing to destroy bodies in order to save souls.

The Cochadebajeros have precious little ammunition, unless you count chef Dolores's incendiary Chicken of a True Man, and a civil defense that deems nothing more crucial than the act of love.

Part epic, part farce, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman confirms de Bernires's reputation as England's answer to Gabriel Garca Mrquez.