A writer's coming of age is at once ridiculous and sublime. Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru's best-known modern author, provides a good dose of both emotions in his newly translated semi-autobiographical novel [Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter]. With this work we have the story of a writer's transformation and emergence in contemporary South America….

The tone, pace and coloring of his language are at times reminiscent of adult fairy tales, of stories told to symbolically prepare children for the harsh realities of grownup life. Mario, a passionate 18-year-old Peruvian law student and would-be writer, certainly needs to be initiated into adulthood….

Mario might have passed his life trifling with short stories and eventually scratching out a law degree and a living. But he comes upon two individuals who change him from a mere product of his surroundings into its keen observer and wry commentator.

The first is Aunt Julia...