Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 40. Chapters: Alexander Witt, Alfredo Jaar, Ariel Dorfman, Arturo Valenzuela, Beatriz Marinello, Carolina Aguilera, Claudio Arrau, Claudio Spies, Cote de Pablo, Don Francisco (television host), F. J. Duarte, Felicia Montealegre, Gabriela Mistral, Hernan Garcia de Gonzalo, Horatio Sanz, Isabel Allende, Jason Acuna, Joaquin Murrieta, Jose Quiroga, Julio M. Fernandez, Marko Zaror, Marsia Alexander-Clarke, Matias Duarte, Nico Bodonczy, Patricia Demick, Patricio Castillo, Paulina Kernberg, Philip Bazaar, Ricardo Acuna, Ruperto Donoso, Sebastian Edwards, Snooki, Steve Thurston, Tom Araya. Excerpt: Isabel Allende .) (born 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits (La casa de los espiritus, 1982) and City of the Beasts (La ciudad de las bestias, 2002), which have been commercially successful. Allende has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author." In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2010, she received Chile's National Literature Prize. Allende's novels are often based upon her personal experience and pay homage to the lives of women, while weaving together elements of myth and realism. She has lectured and toured many American colleges to teach literature. Fluent in English as a second language, Allende was granted American citizenship in 2003, having lived in California with her American husband since 1989. Allende was born Isabel Allende Llona in Lima, Peru, the daughter of Francisca Llona Barros and Tomas Allende, who was at the time the Chilean ambassador to Peru. Her father was a first cousin of Salvador Allende, President of Chile from 1970 to 1973; so Salvador is her first cousin once removed. Many sources cite Allende as being Salvador Allende's niece (without specifying that the relationship is that Tomas and Salvador are cousins); the confusion stems from Allende herself often referring to Salvador as her "'uncle" (tio) in her private life and public interviews. This is because in Spanish a "first cousin once removed" is translated as "second degree uncle" (tio en segundo grado). Isabel Allende at the Miami Book Fair International in 1990In 1945, after Tomas had disappeared, Isabel's mother relocated with her three children to Santiago, Chile, where they lived until 1953. Between 1953 and 1958, Allende's mother married Ramon Huidobro and moved often. Huidobro was a diplomat appointed to Bolivia and Beirut. In Bolivia, Allende attended a North American pr