The Peron Novel [Paperback]

Tomas Eloy Martinez (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Credibly straddling the terrain between outright fiction and ascertainable fact, making intricate use of actual newspaper reports and interviews (the Argentinean Martinez is a journalist as well as a novelist) and crowding the canvas with a motley array of characters, this complex novel begins on the fateful day in 1973 when Juan Domingo Peron, in an advanced state of decay, left his 18-year exile in Spain to return to the turbulent anarchy of Argentina. Once all-powerful, a professional soldier and fanatic devotee of Napoleon, an admirer of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco, the Generalissimo is now critically sick, bordering on senility, helpless as authority seeps away from him and into the hands of his power-hungry cohorts. The novel roils incessantly as it shifts in time and space between Spain and Argentina and the narrative moves from one voice to another, the principal ones being Peron's secretary and ghost-biographer and an anti-Peronist journalist who also acts as spokesman for the revolutionary opposition; and to add to the hubbub Martinez speaks in his own voice as well. Issued in Argentina in 1985, this is the first American publication of a masterfully written, absorbing work.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

A best seller in Latin America, this literate and sophisticated novel roughly chronicles the rise and fall of Argentina's charismatic general Juan Peron. Focusing on the psyche of the South American dictator and the political intrigue that characterized his regime, the novel opens on the day a tired, elderly Peron flies home from Spanish exile in a futile attempt to resume power. Martinez juxtaposes actual clippings and interviews with highly imaginative musings to convey the slide into chaos, moral decay, and duplicity that came as larger forces overwhelm Peron. His work may remind readers of Gore Vidal's historic assays, or Graham Greene's passion for the region, or Garcia Marquez's dreamlike prose. Edward C. Lynskey, Documentation, Atlantic Research Corp., Alexandria, Va.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (December 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679768017
• ISBN-13: 978-0679768012
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wildly intelligent book, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Peron Novel (Paperback)

Since there is no synopsis of the book here, I will write one and then write my opinion.

It is 1973 and Peron is summoned back to Argentina after 18? years in exile in Madrid. He is now an old man and his movement has moved beyond his own strict ideology. His return is viewed through the eyes of no fewer than 20 people, who are in the process of making some sense out of Peron's life and his tendency towards Megalomania. These range from his wife, Isabella, his relatives, his president, ex-military companions, and some wierd extremist groups (which I DID NOT understand, sorry Tomas).

OK- now I transition into opinion. The truly unique thing about this book is that it centers around a one week period, but retells this same week from a multitude of standpoints, some even demented. Many times throughout the book I seriously considered flying to Iowa to hunt down the author and ask him "how much of this is true??" He puts himself in the book as a reporter, and it is plausible that he actually met Peron. I feel sure he has mountains of good info, and probably could write an engaging biography of this man (which then of course no one would read, so maybe this is his point).

While I did like this book, I was much more engaged by the writing itself and the odd twists or context and historical events that he describes than in the actual content. I forced myself to read it because I knew I'd like it, more than I was compelled to read it.

And if you're still reading this, go to Santa Evita and read that first, because it has all the advantages of this peculiarly odd book with a much more engaging topic. Then read this because this Tomas Eloy is a fantastic writer.