Rubén Pelayo, PhD, is professor of twentieth-century Latin American literature at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT. He is the author of Gabriel García Márquez: A Critical Companion (Greenwood Press, 2001) and coauthor of La voz: A Practical Approach for Understanding Spanish Phonetics and Mastering Pronunciation (2007). His essay publications include poststructuralist and linguistic studies, literary criticism, and the merging of genres. Professor Pelayo has presented his research both nationally and internationally.

Pelayo (Latin American literature, Southern Connecticut State University) wrote this stirring biography of Columbian writer, Gabriel García Marquez for high school students. However, unlike many such biographies, he doesn't patronize his readers, nor is this an unqualified panegyric of the subject. Marquez's life is told in clear prose with frequent references to characters and plots of his books, guaranteed to make his audience want to read them, too. Pelayo puts Marquez in the context of Columbian, South American and world politics. This book would be a fine introduction to the man and his writing for anyone. It is accompanied by a reading list, including Internet sources.

• AcknowledgmentsTimeline of Events in the Life of Gabriel García MÁrquezIntroductionChapter 1:Origins: Aracataca-MacondoChapter 2:Bogotazo and the Barranquilla GroupChapter 3:Cinema, Europe, and MarriageChapter 4:New York, Mexico City, and Making FilmsChapter 5:The Myth of One Hundred Years of SolitudeChapter 6:World Famous, September 11, 1973Chapter 7:The Nobel Prize, Television, and MoviesChapter 8:Journalism, Pilgrims, and DemonsChapter 9:The New MillenniumChapter 10:The Readings and the FriendshipsBibliographyIndexAbout the Author