“It’s spellbinding—a luminous novel by a master of storytelling.”

“A spacious mirror image of the novel that made him famous…The constant, throbbing fascination here is the shock of recognition.”

“A rich, commodious novel whose narrative power is matched only by its generosity of vision.”

“A love story of astonishing power and delicious comedy…humane, richly comic, almost unbearably touching, and altogether extraordinary.”

“They are interesting characters whose sometimes bizarre proceedings interact with the peculiarities of the society they inhabit to create a wonderfully vivid and convincing world…What more can be asked of a novelist?”

“Armando Durán’s bold performance of this much-loved
novel is infused with energy and enthusiasm…Durán’s
pronunciations and his navigation of complex sentences are smooth and artful,
offering lively characters and animated descriptions…Duran is a skilled
narrator whose affection for the material seems real.”

“Thoroughly engrossing on the highest artistic level. It is easily his best work since One Hundred Years of Solitude…His vision is exalting.”

“The greatest luxury, as in all of García Márquez’s books, is the eerie, entirely convincing suspension of the laws of reality…the agelessness of the human story as told by one of this century’s most evocative writers.”

“Oh boy—does he write well. He writes with impassioned control, out of a maniacal serenity: the Garcimarquesian voice we have come to recognize from the other fiction has matured, found and developed new resources, been brought to a level where it can at once be classical and familiar, opalescent and pure, able to praise and curse, laugh and cry, fabulate and sing, and when called upon, take off and soar…There is nothing I have read quite like this…[A] shining and heartbreaking book.”

“This is a beautiful story, beautifully told, and it should not be missed by any reader of literary fiction.”

“A fully mature novel in scope and perspective…as rich in ideas as in humanity.”

“A compelling exploration of the myths we make of love. Highly recommended.