Rating: 
Summary: A Slight Mistake In the Book Description
Review: This novel is sure to spawn 10,000 dissertations in comparative literature. It is an extremely self-conscious work --- in fact, this gets to be too much at times. If you're into Deconstruction, then Santa Evita will thrill you. If you're looking for a straightforward narrative, then it will mystify you --- it's the literary equivalent of a jigsaw puzzle. Since my knowledge of the whole Evita phenomenon and the sociopolitical scene the novel engages is superficial, much of this work went over my head. I expect that it is laced with clever political puns that I missed. Fortunately, Martinez's gift for felicitous phrasing shines through even in translation. In my opinion, the desires projected onto Evita's body (both political and personal) do make for interesting reading, but Martinez's many digressions on memory and the reconstruction of "reality" shamelessly hammer in a theme that's become far too trendy these days. Relatedly, his obstinate insistence that the truth only exists in versions can be heavy-handed at times, especially if you compare it to the subtle and brilliant way that someone like Lev Tolstoy (or even Andrei Makine) treats the same theme. In spite of these factors, Santa Evita is a good novel, with some truly excellent passages here and there. It seems almost heretical not to love it, but I have to admit I didn't. Sorry, but that's my version of the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: A Decidely Postmodern "Tissue of Different Versions"
Review: This novel is sure to spawn 10,000 dissertations in comparative literature. It is an extremely self-conscious work --- in fact, this gets to be too much at times. If you're into Deconstruction, then Santa Evita will thrill you. If you're looking for a straightforward narrative, then it will mystify you --- it's the literary equivalent of a jigsaw puzzle. Since my knowledge of the whole Evita phenomenon and the sociopolitical scene the novel engages is superficial, much of this work went over my head. I expect that it is laced with clever political puns that I missed. Fortunately, Martinez's gift for felicitous phrasing shines through even in translation. In my opinion, the desires projected onto Evita's body (both political and personal) do make for interesting reading, but Martinez's many digressions on memory and the reconstruction of "reality" shamelessly hammer in a theme that's become far too trendy these days. Relatedly, his obstinate insistence that the truth only exists in versions can be heavy-handed at times, especially if you compare it to the subtle and brilliant way that someone like Lev Tolstoy (or even Andrei Makine) treats the same theme. In spite of these factors, Santa Evita is a good novel, with some truly excellent passages here and there. It seems almost heretical not to love it, but I have to admit I didn't. Sorry, but that's my version of the truth.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting read, but not wholly satisfying
Review: Through interviews, diligent research, and creative license, Martinez provides a revealing portrait of Eva Peron, the infamous Argentine First Lady who was both revered and reviled by her countrymen. While some of the information in the novel describes Peron's humble upbringing, charismatic personality, accomplishments, and legendary status during her lifetime, the majority of the novel recounts what befalls the leader after her death, more specifically what happens to her embalmed corpse, and the eerie influence it exerts on those around it. While the book is occasionally fascinating and insightful, it can not be described as a complete success. At times it becomes tedious and mired in excessive details that have a cloying effect on the reader. Despite these flaws, this novel is still recommended with the caveat that this superfluous account may disappoint all but the most fervent admirers of the Argentine icon.
Rating:
Summary: Reality in fiction ? or Fiction in reality?
Review: To be honest, I decided to buy the book after I had seen the comment of brilliant author Marquez over it. Marquez does not dissapoint me, once again!I have finished the book just a few minutes ago and rushed to Internet to investigate what I have read is totally a fiction or reality. A marvellous harmony of reality in fiction. Thanks to Tomas Elo Martinez to make me more curious about "Santa Evita" and Argentina.
Rating:
Summary: Mas alla de la muerte de Eva Peron
Review: Tomas Eloy Martinez nos deleita con una historia surreal y entretenida donde se mezcla historia, obsesion, secretos, mentiras y verdades. El autor narra la vida, muerte y resurreccion de Eva Peron, figura clave del Peronismo argentino. En esta ficcion (que parte de una historia real) encontramos al autor espantando sus propios demonios y los fantasmas, tanto del pasado como de su profesion. Cuando es ficcion?, cuando es realidad? Este es un relato intimo que se debe leer entre lineas. Olvidese de la Evita que canta
Rating:
Summary: Santa Evita will haunt you
Review: Where does reality end and fiction begins? I don't know, and after I've read this book, I really don't care. I've read quite a few things about Evita's life and her death, but this is by far the best I've ever read. The author does a wonderful job weaving the stories about Evita, her virtues and shortcomings, the people who loved her and hated her passionately. Personally, I have mixed feelings about Evita: I admire her deeply for her courage and ambition; she had been insignificant, her chances to become what she became practically nil, and yet she is considered a mother, a manipulator, a despot, a saint, decades after her death. From that point of view, I can almost overlook her ruthlessness, her bitterness, and the way she twisted things to suit her. Personal feelings aside, if the facts about her life aren't enough to get you hooked on this book, the circumstances surrounding the fate of her embalmed corpse are more then enough to draw you into the story. Be careful, though, because even after you put the book down, you still will feel Evita's magnetism pulling at you.
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Summary: The true novel of the journey of the body of Eva Peron
Review: While claiming to be a novel, much of what is written in this macabre book is documentable as fact. The lines between fact and fiction are hazy at best; but this enhances the fascination with the story of a novelist obsessed with Eva Peron as he researches her profound effect on her people, and as he searches out the trail her body took in the 17 years after her death. With accidental murder and possible necrophilia involved, this is not a light tale, but it's engrossing; for poetry fans, there seems to be a deliberate parallel drawn between the cult of Evita and the cult of Sylvia Plath. Truly a fascinating and frightening story
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