Bless Me, Ultima [SEP] publisher
, and sales of his classic, "Bless Me, Ultima" (1972) have surpassed 360,000.
After Quinto Sol's initial publication of "Bless Me, Ultima" in 1972, critics by and large responded enthusiastically. The general consensus was that the novel provided Chicano literature with a new and refreshing voice. Scott Wood, writing for America Press, asserted:
By 1976, four years after "Bless Me Ultima's" initial publication, the new author was finding fans and fame among Chicano readers and scholars
through a small publisher notwithstanding), the novel sold 300,000 copies primarily through word of mouth. In this period the novel generated the largest body of review, interpretation, and analysis of any work of Chicano Literature (p. 1). Finally in 1994, a major publisher (Grand Central Publishing) issued a mass-market edition of "Bless Me, Ultima" to rave reviews.
Terri Windling described the 1994 re-issue as "an important novel which beautifully melds Old World and New World folklore into a