[An] exceptional new novel ... [De Robertis] beguilingly blends the earthbound and the fantastical. Her fifth novel is a hopeful, entertaining paean to language, justice and perseverance.
[De Robertis'] admiration for her protagonist is so absolute that at times she reduces him to a set of irreproachable — and bloodless — ideals ... Still, this is a moving, deeply felt novel, especially in the president’s excruciating (and sometimes humorous) encounters with his strangely healing frog. De Robertis daringly invites us to imagine a man’s Promethean struggle to wrest control of his broken psyche under the most dire circumstances possible.
It is a thoroughly political book—defiantly political, even. Its protagonist is so devoted to improving the collective lot of Uruguay’s citizens that he barely comprehends the idea of a personal life ... In his guerrilla years, the protagonist seems constantly to be convincing himself of his own correctness. This habit can become irritating and repetitive, but it serves a clear purpose: He can sustain his militancy only with ceaseless reminders of how much urgent work there is to be done. In prison, these reminders turn into painful, guilt-laden questions, which de Robertis uses to give the novel its momentum ... The failure to depict...stark conditions slightly undermines de Robertis’s commitment to complexity: Life on the ground, after all, is more complicated than life in revolutionary or reformist rhetoric. Still, The President and the Frog achieves a considerable feat. It turns the tools of literary fiction—free indirect discourse, deep character study, weird conceits like a talking frog—into a call to political, moral, and historical attention ... The President and the Frog asks its readers to think seriously about the weight of taking political action, then suggests that they take it.
Without ever naming him outright, The President and the Frog takes [José 'Pepe'] Mujica’s stranger-than-fiction life story and imbues it with a quirky, mystical grace ... Deep, hilarious, tangential ... While De Robertis’ choice not to name the people and places of her novel may be viewed as stylistic bandwagoning, it allows her to remain engaged with the 'once upon a time' dreaminess with which her novel kicks off. Yet it is perhaps because the novel is inspired by a real man’s life that it ultimately succeeds. The President and the Frog reminds us that hope can be found anywhere, even in the most wretched conditions.
This fairy tale of a novel kicks off with, 'Once upon a time,' and its hero completes a classically harrowing journey ...Readers will be inspired by De Robertis’ timeless, lucidly told tale of a leader committed to his people.
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.
De Robertis meditates on the fight for democracy in her pleasing latest ... 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.
