Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron [Paperback]

Nicholas Fraser (Author), Marysa Navarro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 1996

The life that inspired Evita, the major motion picture starring Madonna.

The story begins in a dusty village lost in the Argentine pampas, where a girl, born out of wedlock, scrambles her way to the capital city by the time she is fifteen. It ends with the embalmed corpse of Eva Peron being hidden away by nervous politicians for fear that if the working people of Argentina knew where it was buried, it would inspire them to revolution.In between Eva Peron became first the actress Eva Duarte, then the mistress of Colonel Perón, then, in October 1945 after the "shirtless ones" had swept Peron into office, the president's wife. In the colorful, tumultuous setting of postwar Argentina, she wielded a power--spiritual and practical--that has few parallels outside of hereditary monarchy. She was literally idolized by millions but was hated and feared by many as well. She became Evita, the legend.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Biography of the mythic Argentinian whose life is also the subject of a forthcoming movie starring Madonna.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

[The authors] have separated out the truth from the sinner/saint legend of Eva Peron--and, most impressively, produced a work of great political sophistication. . . . Factual, nuanced, and absorbing. (Kirkus Reviews )

A fascinating, frightening, straightforward look at the way a private mythology integrated a public personality. (Cleveland Plain Dealer )

The Fraser/Navarro biography is the first convincingly researched and historically accurate account. . . . Engrossing narrative style. (Library Journal )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 4th edition (October 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393315754
• ISBN-13: 978-0393315752
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > History > Americas > South America > Argentina

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced & Engrossing. A brilliant biography., February 1, 2004

By 

E. Valero "Eterno" (Woodbridge, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron (Paperback)

This biography was originally released over 20 years ago when the stage version of "EVITA" was a worldwide smash. At the time, this book was definately the best book ever released on the subject (along side Julie Taylor's EVA PERON: THE MYTHS OF A WOMAN) mainly because of it's fair treatment of Eva and also due to the fact that it was well researched and balanced. Twenty years later and nothing has changed since it remains the BEST biography ever written in the English language about the brilliant but controversial Maria Eva Duarte de Peron. Somehow the writers managed to write a biography that is engrossing, informative and extremely helpful especially in understanding the late Evita's character and personality. It also digs deep into her life and it gives us great insight into her charitable works. I had originally read this book over 10 years ago and was delighted to see it re-issued in 1996 (to co-inside with the release of the film "Evita"). The new re-issued version includes a NEW INTRO and an epilogue which includes some insight into the stage musical.

What impressed me about this book is that it's written in a non-biased manner. Unfortunately (for Eva) many of the books written about her in the English language are maliciously one-sided and hostile to her character and morals. On the flipside, most of the books written about her in Spanish are extremely sugary and convert her into some sort of madonna (NO, not that MADONNA!!). Either way, the reader is given a prejudiced account of Eva's life history and the reader will end up either loathing her or venerating her. This book displays Eva's life as it should be seen and it portrays Eva as a flawed but still exceptional human being. Both her admirers and her enemies agree that the woman was anything but dull. Yet they all convert her into an utterly dreary, one dimensional being with solely one purpose in life and totally lacking in realistic qualities. Even Evita's beauty is treated differently by her different audiences. She is either a blonde sex fiend who used her sex and beauty as a viscious weapon or she's a saintly, sexless deity whose loveliness is to be admired in the most asexual manner. Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro show us the human Eva Duarte with all of her flaws and strenghts, and although she still comes across as a larger than life Goddess, the author's portrayal of her is fair and consistant and back up their claims with witness testimony and historical fact. I have seen several interviews with Marysa Navarro and you can tell she is absolutely intrigued by Eva Peron and always refers to her in a positive light. One must keep in mind that she has spent a lifetime researching this enigmatic woman and has published several books on her in spanish - her spanish biography EVITA is also excellent and is probably the greatest in-depth account of Eva ever published in any language. The only minor complaint I have regarding the book is the lack of photographs. Don't get me wrong because there are several photos included of the lovely leading lady but when we're dealing with someone who was as glamorous as Eva Peron was, the more the better.

This book is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the subject. Let me put it this way, if you have to get JUST ONE BOOK on Evita, then this is definately the book to buy. Revealing, absorbing and surprisingly accurate, this IS THE BEST BIOGRAPHY EVER WRITTEN on the subject.

Eva Peron would be proud.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive biography of Evita, January 16, 2003

By 

Andrew Olivo Parodi (Oregon, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron (Paperback)

EVITA: THE REAL LIFE OF EVA PERON is the definitive biography of the woman most famously known as the subject of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. What this book has that all other biographies lack is: research. The authors visited Argentina in the process of their writing, and interviewed dozens of people who knew and worked with Evita.

The other key ingredient to the success of this book is the neutrality of the authors. They don't have anything invested in what the reader thinks of Eva Peron. They do not want to sway the reader in any particular direction. The authors are neither "pro" nor "anti"-Evita. In the preface to the book they make the promise to try to present Eva as a human being, but concede that this is not as simple a task as it sounds. Evita, they claim, is buried beneath more myth and fantasy than any other historical figure of modern times.

Originally published in 1980 as EVA PERON, this re-issue, made to coincide with the release of the movie starring Madonna, contains a new introduction and epilogue in which Nicholas Fraser comments on the odd re-emergence of Evita as a late 20th Century phenomenon. Astonishingly, the re-emergence was predicted by Evita, who said, "I will return and I will be millions," shortly before she died. Though her story is at last a part of history in her homeland, "In the rest of the world," writes the author, "she has attained the condition of apotheosis." Fraser theorizes that the return may have to do with the fact that we live in a celebrity obsessed era where actors are paid more attention than politicians, making Evita - an actress-turned-politician who was accused by her opponents of turning national political life into show business - the perfect minor deity.

I would recommend EVITA: THE REAL LIFE OF EVA PERON to anyone interested in a somewhat scholarly rendering of Evita's life, as opposed to sensational pop biography (such as EVA PERON by Alicia Dujovne Ortiz).

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was an enjoyable way to hear a true story., July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron (Paperback)

After seeing a documentary on Evita, I thought I knew everything about her. This book added more interesting parts of her life (as well as what happened after she died). I'd read it again. I can't see how anyone could not enjoy it.