SOURCE: A review of El plan infinito, in World Literature Today, Vol. 67, No. 2, Spring, 1993, pp. 335-36.

Below, Hart discusses Allende's shift to a Mexican-American protagonist in El plan infinito and praises her characterization, imaginative prose, and humor.

All the exuberant strengths and endearing weaknesses of Isabel Allende's lively fictional style are in full evidence in her fourth novel, El plan infinito. Readers may struggle a bit to suspend disbelief at certain points, but the mosaic of outrageous anecdote, flamboyant and varied detail, and shrewd insight into the struggles of being human more than overcomes our skepticism. As ever, Allende spins a great yarn.

This time Allende sets her story mostly in the United States, and protagonism is shared by Gregory Reeves, the son of an itinerant preacher who grows up in a Hispanic barrio of Los Angeles and then goes on to practice poverty law in the Bay...