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Outstanding
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Chicago Sun-Times Allen Barra
One of those rare and perfect matches of subject and author.
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Outstanding
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The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Paul Quarrington
It is hugely enjoyable. It appealed both to the sober-sided book reviewer that I am and the bespectacled, television-viewing lad that I was. I have been missing this kind of thing for 40-odd years; it seems simply not to be around. We have lost our appetite for narratives of frolicking farfetchedness and preposterous implausibility.
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Outstanding
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Los Angeles Times Yxta Maya Murray
In her hands, Zorro is the alter ego of the Spanish Indian magnifico Diego de la Vega and he emerges as a bundle of disturbing contradictions between light and shade, proportion and passion. It is within these tensions that the character is revealed as a classical hero whose fractured personality is of the kind described by no less than Friedrich Nietzsche, who limned the eternal battle between our Apollonian and Dionysian impulses in "The Birth of Tragedy." [1 May 2005, p.R3]
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Outstanding
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Library Journal Misha Stone
Allende is a beguiling storyteller, and Zorro provides a rich palate for her customary embellishments. [1 Mar 2005, p.74]
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Outstanding
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Publishers Weekly
Allende's latest page-turner explodes with vivid characterization and high-speed storytelling.
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Favorable
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Boston Globe Ilan Stavans
She (Allende) is now the master of Nuevo Latino fiction, spicing her characters with multicultural ingredients and more than a bit of sex spiced throughout.
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Favorable
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The Guardian Ian Sansom
Zorro: The Novel bears the usual scars of creation, but it's also beautiful and disturbing and profound, and anyone who tells you it isn't is clearly immune to whatever part of the normal human being thrills to feats of derring-do.
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Favorable
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Washington Post Craig Nova
Frankly I am amazed at how enjoyable a picaresque novel can be, particularly one imbued with swashbuckling, swordplay, honor, hidden desire, unlikely coincidence and a good old-fashioned villain.
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Favorable
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TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Anita Sethi
It is the tantalizing glimpses of the unknown world behind the surface of illusions in Zorro that keep the reader captive to the final page.
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Favorable
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Booklist Brad Hooper
Allende's mesmerizing narrative voice never loses timbre or flags in either tension or entertainment value. To describe her as a clever novelist is to signify that she is both inventive and intelligent. [15 Feb 2005, p.1035]
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Favorable
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Kirkus Reviews
Allende's tale risks but resists descending into melodrama at every turn. The up-to-date, even postmodern ending makes for a nice touch, too, and will gladden the heart of anyone ready in his or her heart to carve a few Zs into the bad guys.
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Favorable
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The Independent Charles Shaar Murray
This may be an anomaly in the Zorro saga and the Allende oeuvre, but it is a highly entertaining one. As high culture-low-culch throwdowns go, it beats Ang Lee's Hulk.
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Favorable
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Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Zorro is a light and ripe adventure yarn, a female-friendly variation on an already famous figure of boy-driven pop culture.
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Favorable
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USA Today Carol Memmott
Allende, who already is celebrated for her gift of storytelling in such best sellers as "Daughter of Fortune," "The House of Spirits" and "Eva Luna," gives Zorro the feel of a folk or fairy tale with her ability to draw readers in, hold their attention and keep the story moving at an exciting pace.
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Favorable
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Chicago Tribune Alan Cheuse
Allende's narrator, who turns out to have a special (and vested) interest in Diego/Zorro, allows that she sometimes veers from the facts. Allende seems to have followed this path herself, creating a lively and fascinating version of the Zorro story, with enough verve and swash to keep the reader with her all the way. [8 May 2005, p.C5]
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Mixed
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The Guardian Tim Adams
As a character, however, through the uncritical eyes of one of the few women he does not seduce, Zorro fails to develop beyond the two dimensions of his legend.
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Mixed
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Daily Telegraph Lucy Daniel
Allende is nothing if not a dogged storyteller. This story is about the creation of myths, of both personality and nation, but she falls short of exploring the nuances, preferring straightforward escapism.
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Unfavorable
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The New York Times Book Review Max Byrd
Allende's narrator isn't the only one to reach the last page with a sigh and a confession: ''I have had my fill of Zorro.''
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