Writer
Isabel Allende
Notes from Evan Smith
"One of the great things about living in Texas these days is the opportunity to see and hear and meet some of the greatest writers in the world -- we're known in publishing circles as a prime place to send a big-name author on a book tour, since Texans are readers and book buyers to a degree that puts the residents of other states to shame. And so it is that today's guest, the marvelously creative and elegant novelist Isabel Allende, happened to be in Austin in Spring 2005 and available for a chat. Born in Peru and raised primarily in Chile, the 62-year-old worked as a journalist until her uncle, Chilean president Salvador Allende, was deposed in a coup, at which time she and her first husband and their children fled to Venezeula. Since divorced and remarried to an American, she has lived for more than a decade in Marin County, California -- and we're lucky to be able to claim her as a resident of this country. Her books include one of the most impressive debut novels of the last generation, The House of Spirits, as well as the international bestsellers Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, Stories of Eva Luna, and The Infinite Plan. Her latest novel, Zorro, about the life and times of the man behind the mask, has just been published." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 6.2.05
