 In the preface to his 1976 interview with Anaya reprinted in "Conversations with Rudolfo Anaya" (1998), Ishmael Reed states that, "Bless Me Ultima", as of July 1, 1976, had sold 80,000 copies without a review in the major media.For twenty-two years after the novel's initial publication (its only availability 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).