Solitude & Company
The Life of Gabriel García Márquez Told with Help from His Friends, Family, Fans, Arguers, Fellow Pranksters, Drunks, and a Few Respectable Souls
Silvana Paternostro
- An
- oral
- history
- biography
- of
- the
- legendary
- Latin
- American
- writer
- and
- Nobel
- laureate
- Gabriel
- García
- Márquez,
- brimming
- with
- atmosphere
- and
- insight.Irrevent
- and
- hopeful,
- Solitude
- &
- Company
- recounts
- the
- life
- of
- a
- boy
- from
- the
- provinces
- who
- decided
- to
- become
- a
- writer.
- This
- is
- the
- story
- of
- how
- he
- did
- it,
- how
- little
- Gabito
- became
- Gabriel
- García
- Márquez,
- and
- of
- how
- Gabriel
- García
- Márquez
- survived
- his
- own
- self-creation.
The
- book
- is
- divided
- into
- two
- parts.
- In
- the
- first,
- BC,
- before
- Cien
- años
- de
- soledad
- (One
- Hundred
- Years
- of
- Solitude),
- his
- siblings
- speak
- and
- those
- who
- were
- friends
- before
- García
- Márquez
- became
- the
- universally
- loved
- Latin
- American
- icon.
- Those
- who
- knew
- him
- when
- he
- still
- didn't
- have
- a
- proper
- English
- tailor
- nor
- an
- English
- biographer,
- and
- didn't
- accompany
- presidents.
- It
- gathers
- together
- the
- voices
- around
- the
- boy
- from
- the
- provinces,
- the
- sisters
- and
- brothers,
- the
- childhood
- friends,
- the
- drinking
- buddies
- and
- penniless
- fellow
- students.
The
- second
- part,
- AC,
- describes
- the
- man
- behind
- the
- legend
- that
- García
- Márquez
- became.
- From
- Aracataca,
- to
- Baranquila,
- to
- Bogota,
- to
- Paris,
- to
- Mexico
- City,
- the
- solitude
- that
- García
- Márquez
- needed
- to
- produce
- his
- masterpiece
- turns
- out
- to
- have
- been
- something
- of
- a
- raucous
- party
- whenever
- he
- wasn't
- actually
- writing.
- Here
- are
- the
- writers
- Tomás
- Eloy
- Martínez,
- Edmundo
- Paz
- Soldán
- and
- William
- and
- Rose
- Styron;
- legendary
- Spanish
- agent
- Carmen
- Balcells;
- the
- translator
- of
- A
- Hundred
- Years
- of
- SolitudeGregory
- Rabassa;
- Gabo's
- brothers
- Luis
- Enrique,
- Jaime,
- Eligio
- and
- Gustavo,
- and
- his
- sisters
- Aida
- and
- Margot;
- María
- Luisa
- Elío,
- to
- whom
- A
- Hundred
- Years
- of
- Solitude
- is
- dedicated;
- and
- so
- much
- more:
- a
- great
- deal
- of
- music,
- especially
- the
- vallenato;
- the
- hilarious
- scenes
- of
- several
- hundred
- Colombians,
- García
- Márquez's
- chosen
- delegation,
- flying
- to
- Stockholm
- for
- the
- Nobel
- Prize
- celebrations;
- the
- time
- Mario
- Vargas
- Llosa
- punched
- Gabriel
- García
- Márquez
- in
- the
- face;
- and
- much,
- much
- more.
In
- Living
- to
- Tell
- the
- Tale,
- the
- first
- volume
- of
- García
- Márquez's
- autobiography,
- Gabo
- writes:
- "I
- am
- consoled,
- however,
- that
- at
- times
- oral
- history
- might
- be
- better
- than
- written,
- and
- without
- knowing
- it
- we
- may
- be
- inventing
- a
- new
- genre
- needed
- by
- literature:
- fiction
- about
- fiction."
- Solitude
- &
- Company
- joins
- other
- great
- oral
- histories,
- like
- Jean
- Stein
- and
- George
- Plimpton's
- Edie:
- American
- Girl,
- their
- oral
- history
- biography
- of
- Edie
- Sedgwick,
- or
- Barry
- Gifford's
- oral
- history
- of
- Jack
- Kerouac,
- Jack's
- Book--an
- intimate
- portrait
- of
- the
- most
- human
- side
- of
- Gabriel
- García
- Márquez
- told
- in
- the
- words
- of
- those
- who
- knew
- him
- best
- throughout
- his life.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
