In the brilliant tradition of Don Quixote and Candide , this passionate novel by the author of Before Night Falls is a modern masterpiece of Latin American fiction. Fray Servando--priest, blasphemer, dueler of monsters, irresistible lover, misunderstood prophet, prisoner, and consummate escape artist--wanders among the vice-ridden populations of eighteenth-century Europe and the Americas, fleeing dungeons, a marriage-minded woman, a slave ship captain,...