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An incandescent novel - political, mystical, timely, and heartening - about the power of memory, and the pursuit of justice, from the acclaimed author of Cantoras.
At his modest home on the edge of town, the former president of an unnamed Latin American country receives a journalist in his famed gardens to discuss his legacy and the dire circumstances that threaten democracy around the globe. Once known as the Poorest President in the World, his reputation is the stuff of myth: a former guerilla who was jailed for inciting revolution before becoming the face of justice, human rights, and selflessness for his nation. Now, as he talks to the journalist, he wonders if he should reveal the strange secret of his imprisonment: while held in brutal solitary confinement, he survived, in part, by discussing revolution, the quest for dignity, and what it means to love a country, with the only creature who ever spoke back—a loud-mouth frog.
As engrossing as it is innovative, vivid, moving, and full of wit and humor, The President and the Frog explores the resilience of the human spirit and what is possible when danger looms. Ferrying us between a grim jail cell and the president's lush gardens, the tale reaches beyond all borders and invites us to reimagine what it means to lead, to dare, and to dream.
"In stunning, cleareyed prose, De Robertis writes beautifully about storytelling, justice, and hope amid brutality...In this slim novel, De Robertis sketches a portrait of a man who never stopped fighting for the betterment of himself, his country, and the world. A timeless and timely exploration of power, revolution, and survival." - Kirkus Reviews
"While the allegorical aspects can feel a bit pat, the tale's simplicity belies considerable depth and resonance...In such a charged political moment, this lands as both a balm and a paean to national pride and unity." - Publishers Weekly
"A classically harrowing journey...The tale alternates between this retired public official looking back on his storied career under the gaze of an outsider, and full immersion in the subterranean, dark, and dirty 'Hole' as this brave guerrilla relives torture and degradation. How does he survive? By talking with a frog...Readers will be inspired by De Robertis' timeless, lucidly told tale of a leader committed to his people." - Booklist
"The President and the Frog is a story about stories, and how to remember the seeds we can be even in the bleakest times. There is such lucid tenderness in the book, but it is also wild, and funny. As we move through time, we return again and again to love, to growth, but through struggle, and madness, and yes, magnanimous conversations with a frog. This book and Carolina De Robertis's vision are a beautiful, shattered dance." - Tommy Orange, author of There There
"Carolina De Robertis is a brilliant and luminous writer, and The President and the Frog is a joy to read. Playful and profound, unearthly yet deeply rooted, this sublime and gripping novel is above all about hope: that within the world's messy pain there is still room for transformation and healing." - Madeline Miller, author of Circe
"Visionary, biting with humor and deeply moving, The President and the Frog storms the limits of time and memory, human power and humility. De Robertis is a master storyteller and these pages astonish with their originality and brilliance." - Patricia Engel, author of Infinite Country
This information about The President and the Frog was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Caro De Robertis is the award-winning and bestselling author of several books, including The Palace of Eros, The President and the Frog, Cantoras, and more. Their work has been translated into eighteen languages and has garnered numerous honors including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, two Stonewall Book Awards, Italy's Rhegium Julii Prize, and the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature, which they were the first openly nonbinary person to receive. De Robertis is also an award-winning literary translator and a professor at San Francisco State University. They live in Oakland, California, with their two children. Find out more at CaroDeRobertis.com.
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