The Infinite Plan (Spanish: El plan infinito) was published by Plaza & Janés in 1991 and represents Allende’s first major departure from Latin American settings. The novel is set entirely in the United States and follows Gregory Reeves from his childhood as the son of a wandering preacher (who preaches a cosmic philosophy called “The Infinite Plan”) through the barrios of East Los Angeles, Vietnam, the countercultural upheavals of the 1960s, and the materialism of the 1980s.
The novel was inspired by the life of Allende’s second husband, the American lawyer Willie Gordon, and it represents her attempt to understand American culture from the inside while maintaining the outsider’s perspective that gives her vision its distinctive angle. Gregory grows up as the only Anglo child in a Latino neighborhood — giving him a bicultural identity that mirrors Allende’s own position as a Latin American writing about the United States.
Allende’s America is viewed through a lens shaped by Latin American fiction: the epic sweep, the multigenerational scope, the attention to class and race, and the belief that individual lives are shaped by historical forces. The novel traces the arc of postwar American history through Gregory’s experiences — the optimism of the 1950s, the trauma of Vietnam, the hedonism of the 1970s, the greed of the 1980s — creating a portrait of American life that is both sympathetic and critical.
Collecting The Infinite Plan
First Spanish edition (Plaza & Janés, Barcelona, 1991): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First Spanish edition: $20–$50
- First English edition (HarperCollins, 1993): $10–$25
- Signed copies: $30–$75