In the brilliant tradition of Don Quixoteand Candide, Hallucinationsis a modern masterpiece of Latin American fiction. Fray Servando-priest, blasphemer, dueler of monsters, irresistible lover, misunderstood prophet, prisoner, and consummate escape artist-wanders among the vice-ridden populations of eighteenth-century Europe and the Americas, fleeing dungeons, a marriage-minded female, a slaveship captain, and the Inquisition. Whether by burro, by boat, or by the back of a whale, Fray Servando's journey is at once funny and romantic, melancholy and profound-a tale rooted in history, yet outrageously hallucinatory. "An impenitent amalgam of truth and invention, historical fact and outrageous make-believe. . . . A philosophical black comedy." (The New York Times)