Captain Pantoja and the Special Service

by Mario Vargas Llosa · first published 1973

Captain Pantoja and the Special Service (Spanish: Pantaleón y las visitadoras; 1973) is a relatively short comedic novel by acclaimed Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa. The story takes place in the Peruvian department of Amazonas, where troops from the Peruvian Army are attended to by prostitutes, referred to euphemistically in the Spanish term visitadora, meaning “visitor” and in juridical terms it means “auditor”, "inspector" or "examiner". According to the author himself, the work is based on facts, as he was able to verify them in 1958 and in 1962 when he travelled to the Peruvian jungle. It deals with Captain Pantoja's (from whom the novel's title takes its name) astonishing efficiency campaign to provide prostitution services for quelling the sexual desires of the Peruvian army soldiers stationed in what is portrayed as an incredibly aphrodisiacal Amazon jungle.

Summary: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Genre:

Comic, Social fiction

Original language:

Spanish

Year page:

1973