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Aberjhani Multi-genre author and editor of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

Some Call It "Zafonmania"


bibliomaniac

Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance is a treasure chest of literary, musical, and historical marvels--not to be missed.

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  hardcover
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May 16, 2009, 12:47 pm

Carlos Ruiz Zafon, author of The Shadow of the Wind, and The Angel's Game.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon, author of The Shadow of the Wind, and The Angel's Game.

I think I've figured out why I am just now learning about the fantabulous works of author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. At the time that his novel The Shadow of the Wind enjoyed a year-long run on the bestseller lists in Spain in 2001, and then later duplicated that success in corners all around the global village, I was eyebrow-deep in research for Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. That means I means I missed it when Stephen King described the book as "one gorgeous read"; when Elle Magazine called it "diabolically good"; and when readers in Germany began to celebrate the phenomenon of "Zafónmania."

In fact, I only learned about it after receiving an offer for an advanced reading copy of Zafón's most recent novel, The Angel's Game . As much as I love angels and as curious as I was about the divine shenanigans implied by the title, I was so captivated by enclosed blurbs for The Shadow of the Wind that I had to find a copy of it before I would consider accepting the advanced copy of The Angel's Game.

So how was I to know that the novel would absorb my imagination-charged attention so completely that I would miss deadlines and forget to pay bills until I had not only read and brooded over its pages but cranked out a full essay on it presented here at Red Room and a condensed version posted as a review on Amazon and other sites?  Not the kind of thing you can prepare for. The magic happens and you just say-Wow!

For the Unexpurgated Review of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind please click here

For the condensed review on Amazon, click this link

I hope you enjoy it.

 

by Aberjhani  

doris davenport

doris diosa davenport says:

Shadow of the Wind and . . .

Hello Aberjhani! i am just sitting here grinning at my computer because of you. First, i enjoy the visual energy of your page(s). (i too live in GA and just recently became a redroom author.) *But* Main thing (can't visit long - got a deadline for an SFRA paper, this Thurs. in ATL): YES!!! To everything everyone said about SHADOW! i saw this book in my friend Kay's apt - about a year or so ago - and started reading it . . . when i came home, ordered my own copy quicker than you can say chargeit. It is truly a beautiful book. i will come back later. Thank you. :) - d. 

*    Aberjhani

* Aberjhani says:

So glad you enjoyed that post Doris

If you haven't seen my new blog on Ruiz Zafon's latest, please free to check it out right here: http://redroom.com/blog/aberjhani/review-essay-the-angels-game-carlos-ru...

Aberjhani
Founder of Creative Thinkers International
author of The American Poet Who Went Home Again
and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File)