# Is "Who Killed Palomino Molero?" by Mario Vargas Llosa a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Who Killed Palomino Molero? by Mario Vargas Llosa (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1987) is identified by: First US edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1987, with 'First edition' stated on the copyright page; translated from the Spanish by Alfred Mac Adam. First English translation of ¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero?

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1987, with 'First edition' stated on the copyright page; translated from the Spanish by Alfred Mac Adam
- An octavo of 151 pages in a gray-spined binding with yellow and black spine lettering
- The first-issue dust jacket carries a design by Honi Werner and an author photograph by Jerry Bauer, both credited to 1987, and should retain its original printed front-flap price (any specific figure is not stated here); the jacket is not identified by a specific review-blurb point, so the copyright-page statement remains the primary identifier
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mario Vargas Llosa |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1987, with 'First edition' stated… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First US edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1987, with 'First edition' stated on the copyright page; translated from the Spanish by Alfred Mac Adam. An octavo of 151 pages in a gray-spined binding with yellow and black spine lettering. The first-issue dust jacket carries a design by Honi Werner and an author photograph by Jerry Bauer, both credited to 1987, and should retain its original printed front-flap price (any specific figure is not stated here); the jacket is not identified by a specific review-blurb point, so the copyright-page statement remains the primary identifier.

## Is this the true first?
First English translation of ¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero? (1986); the FSG US edition of 1987 precedes the Faber & Faber UK edition, which did not appear until 1988.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No notable book-club edition point documented; the stated 'First edition' on the copyright page identifies the true first, and a second printing exists that retains the 'First edition' words but adds a lower number to the printing line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Who Killed Palomino Molero?* by Mario Vargas Llosa a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/who-killed-palomino-molero
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.