The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus

This is my favorite novel. Why the hell is it out of print? Perhaps readers were turned off by what they assumed would be a dry historical tale. How unfortunate, because this is simply a great read. One of the few novels that I've reread. But wait, perhaps you think my taste in books might be peculiar and thus reflect poorly on this work - okay, fair assumption that. My favorite writers are Morrison, Atwood, Barker, Moore, Heller, Greene to name a few - if that helps. Anyway, the previous review says it all; I just wanted to reiterate that this is a terrific read.

A very clever novel which neatly compasses epic historical fresco, philosophical thoughts and almost devilish satire in the form of Christopher Columbus' "autobiography". We'll follow Columbus' tragicomical life from early childhood to an old age, while we witness his successes and failures, sea voyages and love affairs. The book is full of anachronisms (for example, Columbus constantly mocks or comments his latter-day biographers) and all kinds of literary novelties. Despite the abundant humour and sometimes plain wackiness, the book also offers a very humane and touching description of an era which saw, among other things, the horrors of Spanish inquisition, slavery and subjugation of Indians.Mr. Marlowe's autobiography of Cervantes is stylistically very much the same thing.