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 enlarge | Author: Salvador Plascencia
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $6.98
You Save: $7.02 (50%)
New (32) Used (15) from $6.32
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 38757
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0156032112
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780156032117
ASIN: 0156032112
Publication Date: November 13, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: We suggest expedited shipping (when available).
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| Customer Reviews:
 An amazing novel October 28, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Sal must've been weaned on the tales of Calvino, Borges, and Marquez. A fine weaving on ever sadder tales tie into this meta-fictional novel. It contains: a celestial war, a luchadore saint, a women whose lovers are scarred with papercuts, a fictional history of Rita Haywoth, excessive bedwetting, mechanical reptiles, swarms, gangs of flower pickers, lead poisoning, depression, the death of many sea creatures, perpetual stench, strange motel regulations, voodoo, the Vatican, the Swiss, a meandering order of monks, mind shielding, murder, financiers, stigmata, immolation, and kite flying.
It is written with Calvino's prose and Danielewski's stylistic tricks. Tricks man not be right word as the actual format of the novel does add to the story's worth; I suppose he uses the page as an apparatus.
See also: if on a winter's night a traveler, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and House of Leaves
 odd but worthit September 1, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is exactly how the description describes it as part fiction part autobiography. But its pretty interesting to read and decipher it. Its definetely very weird, and like nothing I have ever read before, but I feel like its worth reading just for that if nothing else. Also Plascencia is a good writer and the book is not that long (despite the page length, not each page is filled completely with writing) so its a quick read. And it can be easy depending on whether or not one chooses to think about it. Overall, I would say if you have any interest in it at all read it, because either it will rock your world and have a huge impact on your life, or it'll just be an interesting read over a couple of afternoons.
Literature that turns the notion of Author on its head July 26, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This story will wow you and the method in which it's told will leave you waiting impatiently for Placencia's next book. This is a genius first novel with artistic vision. If you are an Oprah Book Club Lover or a serious literary snob, you should read this book, I promise it won't disappoint.
 El Salvador December 7, 2005
10 out of 24 found this review helpful
The prologue of this book is exquisite. The fallability of humans is delicately expressed though the use of origami-doctors and priests who build people. Unfortunately, the inventiveness of Plascencia grows beyond endearing as the chapters move on. It becomes unbearable. The story is lost in script-like repetition and hastily placed ink splotches. While Plascencia may have had good reason behind his innovation, creativity hits a reader like a bat to the head and leaves them with no time to contemplate who threw the bat or why the bad was thrown before they pass out and puke over their new shoes.
10 Stars = 5 Stars x 2 - Book Of The Year!!!! September 26, 2005
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
I give this book 10 Stars. The two reasons why are that I read it twice, the second time being as soon as I initially finished it, which I haven't done more than a handful of times in my life. The other reason is the book stops in the middle and starts again, thereby giving the reader two perfect books in one.
The only thing I'm certain of about this book is that Sr. Plascencia has presented something never done in literature before. I'm fully confident no one will honestly say this book is like anything read previously.
Of course, Sr. Plascencia also demonstrates a first-rate command of language, thematic structure that smoothly straddles so many genres it's barely containable by description, and unforgettable characters. That alone makes for great literature.
But there's more, and that's why this book is an instant classic -- a term I do not lightly toss for sake of impact and mean will be studied by scholars 100 years on.
This writer tells the truth, albeit in a fashion heretofore never ventured.
I'll not spoil the plot here. But I can offer no higher praise than to admit the second reading was more satisfying, and I'm confident the third will yield yet deeper appreciation.
If this book doesn't clean up every literary award this year, someone please explain why not.
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