UNC Press - García Márquez

360 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, notes, bibl., index

Cloth

ISBN 978-0-8078-3351-3

Published: January 2010

Paper

ISBN 978-0-8078-6525-5

Published: January 2010

García Márquez

The Man and His Work

By Gene H. Bell-Villada

Second Edition, Revised and Expanded

Awards & Distinctions

2010 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

Gabriel García Márquez is one of the most influential writers of our time, with a unique literary creativity rooted in the history of his native Colombia. This revised and expanded edition of a classic work is the first book of criticism to consider in detail the totality of García Márquezs magnificent oeuvre.

In a beautifully written examination, Gene Bell-Villada traces the major forces that have shaped the novelist and describes his life, his personality, and his politics. For this edition, Bell-Villada adds new chapters to cover all of García Márquez's fiction since 1988, from The General in His Labyrinth through Memories of My Melancholy Whores, and includes sections on his memoir, Living to Tell the Tale, and his journalistic account, News of a Kidnapping. Moreover, new information about García Márquez's biography and artistic development make this the most comprehensive account of his life and work available.

About the Author

Gene Bell-Villada is professor of Romance languages at Williams College. He is author or editor of six scholarly works as well as a memoir and two works of fiction. His most recent book is Conversations with Gabriel García Márquez.

Reviews

"Bell-Villada is one of a handful of scholars in the field of Hispanic letters who write with authority, precision, and flair. . . . This outstanding scholar merits an accolade for a careful reading of García Márquez's oeuvre and an awesome knowledge of foreign literatures."
--Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature

"An agreeable mix of man and metaphor, with nifty readings and inside info."--The Nation

"By doing a masterful job of revealing both Garcia Marquez the writer and the man, Bell-Villada gives a valuable, vivid portrait of one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century."
--School Library Journal

"Bell-Villada's thorough preparation, his brilliant explication [of the texts], and the breadth of his knowledge about his subject's persona and circumstances augment the reader's appreciation of García Márquez's oeuvre and justify the purchase of this updated edition. . . . Highly recommended."
--Choice

"The revised edition is even better than the original. Still the best general introduction to the work of Garcia Marquez, this book is unfailingly perceptive, informative, and likeable."
--Gerald Martin, Andrew Mellon Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh, author of Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life