Library Journal - Booksmack!

I knew doodly squat about Maria Eva Duarte other than she sang "Don't Cry for Me" in Vegas with Elvis when he was fat. Born into poverty and illegitimacy in backwater Los Toldos in 1919, Duarte moved at 15 to Buenos Aires and became an actress. Eventually, she allied herself with Juan Perón, who was one of about 1000 colonels to overthrow the government and get himself elected El Presidente. Eva turned out to be the woman behind the man, going "a great deal further than brewing the maté and pouring the whiskey." As First Lady, she proved glamorous, passionate, generous, and popular-a mashup of Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Ethyl Merman, but I'm not telling you in what order). Though flawed by use of the omniscient voice, this book readably walks the line between characterizing Evita as a power-hungry witch and a savvy politician. Either way, during an era in which women were treated like second-class citizens, Evita became a powerful force for the rights of the laboring classes and the poorer, "shirtless ones" (descamisados) before she died at age 33 of cervical cancer. Douglas Lord, "Books for Dudes", Booksmack!, 12/2/10