Evita: An Intimate Portrait of Eva Peron by Juan Pablo Queiroz
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Book Reviews of Evita: An Intimate Portrait of Eva Peron
Book Review: Can pictures of the controversial Argentinian Madonna lie?
Summary: 3 Stars
As a photographic biography of an individual who died about a decade before bographies were featured on mass television, this book is magnificent. The Argentinian publishers painstakingly compiled nearly 200 pages of many elusive photos of this controversial Argentinian icon - all in black and white, and of surprisingly impeccable quality. One of the auhtors is an academic who provides much of the narrative, and fills an important gap in the literature on Eva Peron. Their treatment shows a clear sympathetic bias which should be recognized by any unwitting reader who may be unaware of the deeply split views of Eva Peron which still previal in Argentina and of the political movement that she and her husband created. You may, like myself, have enjoyed the brilliant Lloyd and Weber musical about Evita's musical life one or more times. If so, you will find these photos will provide some complementary historical insight to the dramatic performance and parallels the performance - although they two are unrealted, as far as I know. Like the musical, this book captures photos from Eva's childhood in a remote provincial pueblo in the pampas through her meteoric rise to stardom in Buenos Aires and ultimately to Argentina's First Lady. Perhaps most remarkable are the photos of her final months where, despite her cancer-ridden state and growing frailty, she continues public appearances and political campaigns.
If you are interested in this book, I would recommend you avoid the expense of a new copy by looking for one of the many high-quality second-hand copies available. I found my copy by accident ...for [money amount]!
Book Review: Beautiful photos but not much of a biography
Summary: 2 Stars
If you are looking for new pictures of Evita, look no farther. On the other hand, if you want to learn about the woman there are other books more deserving. The photos in this book are wonderful, most not published elsewhere. All are accompanied by a brief caption. They are the only part of this book worthy of my time. Out of nearly 200 pages in this book, there are a scant 7 pages devoted to a biography. The biography itself should appeal to ardent fans of Evita but not to her detractors. The most insulting part of the biographical material was when the authors wrote of her parents relationship in such a manner that if one did not know otherwise, one would assume her parents were married. There is no need for such obviously spin doctoring in writng this book and it undermines the authors credibility. In Evita's day, the illegitimacy issue was a scandalous matter, today that is hardly the case, besides, the truth is well known. On the whole, I found little if any new information about Evita in this book. But then again, in a mere 7 pages how much could one expect to find. This book is the only experience I've had where if I had first seen the book before buying it I would have elected not to make the purchase, yet I did truly enjoy the pictures.