Gustavo Rodríguez (writer)

Biography

Born in Lima, Rodriguez lived in Trujillo on the north coast of Peru from the ages of five to sixteen years old.This time made a definite impression on him and which can be seen in his first novel, The Fury of Achilles (2001) (La furia de Aquiles). It tells the story of four young people traveling from a small town to Lima to study, start a career and live together, and where they experience enmity, jealousy, insecurity and chaos of a big city.

Apropos of this novel, Alberto Fuguet declared, in Chile in 2010: "My editor, Gabriel Sandoval, had told me about a Peruvian novel that I would like, a kind of Vargas Llosa's "The time of the Hero" ("La ciudad y los perros"), a contemporary and endearing read, referring to "The Fury of Achilles". Since then I have been buying the books of Rodriguez during occasional stops at Lima airport and now I have the great pleasure to present Gustavo here in Chile. Rodriguez is one of those voices that surprise precisely because he does not boast of nourishing from literature. Not reading him is not permitted as an indulgence."

The first book published by Rodriguez was a collection of stories: 'Cuentos de fin de semana' (Weekend Tales) (1998). Three years later came his first quoted novel, followed by other works, both novels and stories, and nonfiction, as with the biography of the acclaimed Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez. He has also co-authored two books with the sociologist Sandro Venturo: 'Ampay Peru!' (Translatable as Gotcha, Peru) and 'Ampay woman' that looks to knock down myths about his country and the Peruvian woman. Its main articles and essays are collected in Peruvian Translations (2008).

"La risa de tu madre" ("The laughter of your mother") (2003) tells of the obsession that invades a filmmaker when he finds a hidden photograph of his recently deceased mother. Here, his mother appears with a sounding laugh, in a gesture of laughter that his son never saw in her when she was alive. To find out what had provoked that laughter in the hidden picture will take him to find a family secret which will cause a complete review of his life. This novel was one of the finalists for the Herralde Award.

"La semana tiene siete mujeres" ("The week has seven women") (2010) tells a story of infidelity and racism in a city like Lima: a white man born to a "good family" and impoverished economically will have to investigate the love of a half-casted who traveled the opposite way to enrichment and celebrity, a half-casted who also took the love of his life. This novel was a finalist for the Planeta-Casamerica award.

“Cocinero en su tinta" ("Chef in his ink") 2012 tells of the crisis of a Peruvian chef "who must face his traumas and decisions while he invents a dish that represents what his country means to the world. This novel involuntarily generated a huge controversy after the writer Ivan Thays wrote an article on his blog at El País and received attacks for criticizing Peruvian cuisine.

“República de La Papaya” ("Papaya Republic") (2016) tells the story of Paula Yanez, 'La Papaya', an important political consultant who has just ended an affair with one of her students. Paula takes refuge in work and accepts the advice of the First Lady of the Country who has been launched as a presidential candidate without knowing that her former partner is in love with a rival candidate. In this novel, Mario Bellatin said that "only the words of Gustavo Rodriguez are able to create the nostalgia of a city that appears and disappears simultaneously".

For his part, Alberto Fuguet, commented about it: "Apart from literature, Rodriguez also believes in the street and in his eyes and in himself. Rather than write, sometimes it gives the impression that what he does is to talk. As this novel creates a great dialogue".

"I wrote you tomorrow" (2016) is a novel for all those who are still young at heart and tells the story of a teenager who starts receiving strange letters under his pillow. They seem to be arriving from the future, and they will accompany him throughout an important period of his life: the one when he’ll live his first love, the complexities of his family (as of any other) and the first big wound.

Sweet and direct, this novel connects directly with its readers thanks to the direct prose and the fresh of the approach. A novel that parents buy for their children to read, and end up enjoying it more than them.

Rodriguez has obtained in his role as advertising creative several distinctions in his country as well as internationally. Among his numerous campaigns, a highlight is the one that originated the Pisco Day in 2003 after starting a trade war with Chile.

In 2006, the National Council of Education conferred on him the Journalism Award in the Internet category. He has also been awarded by Indecopi (the Institute of Defense of Intellectual Property) for his creative contribution to the development of his country.

He has been a columnist for the El Comercio of Lima, contributor to the magazine Etiqueta Negra and co-founder, along with the writer Javier Arevalo, of the Recreo Project, which seeks to bring reading awareness benefits to the schools of Peru.

After leaving Toronja, an integrated communications agency of which he was founder, he runs a communications consultancy that bears his name. Now divorced, he has three daughters: Alesia, Maira and Malu.

Awards

Works