Parable, paradox, anecdote, dream, and autobiography blend into an exuberant world view and affirmation of human possibility. "The factual skeleton of the author's life is given flash and blood in his strangely beautiful book, in which poetry, fiction, autobiography, history, fantasy and political commentary mingle and reinforce each other in unexpected ways." Jay Parini,
New York Times Book Review "[Galeano] is a dangerous radical storyteller, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, like Isabel Allende, and like Pablo Neruda before them. . . . The Book of Embraces is a mosaic, or Deigo Rivera mural in words." John Leonard, New York Newsday
"In The Book of Embraces, Galeano goes out on the tightrope and then levitates in the air above it. . . . [His] subject is nothing less that the variety of human life and love." Alan Ryan, Washington Post Book World
"In an enchanting book of wonders, Uruguayan writer Galeano applies the collage-like technique of Memory of Fire . . . to his own life and the contemporary scene . . . Galeano's surreal drawings complement the text, blending wild imagination, pointed satire and old-fashioned charm." Publishers Weekly
