García Márquez, Gabriel

Living to Tell the Tale

ISBN: 1400041341
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. First American Edition. Hardcover. "In this long-awaited first volume of a planned trilogy, the most acclaimed and revered living Nobel laureate begins to tell us the story of his life...It spans Gabriel Garcia Marquez's life from his birth in 1927 through the start of his career as a writer to the moment in the 1950s when he proposed to the woman who would become his wife. It has the shape, the quality, and the vividness of a conversation with the reader- a tale of people, places and events as they occur to him: the colorful stories of his eccentric family members; the great influence of his mother and maternal grandfather; his consuming career in journalism, and the friends and mentors who encouraged him; the myths and mysteries of his beloved Colombia; personal details, undisclosed until now, that would appear later, transmuted and transposed, in his fiction; and, above all, his fervent desire to become a writer." (from front flap) A memoir of his formative, eventful early life & work by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927-2014), the Nobel Prize-winning canonical Colombian author who famously invented & popularized the style of "Magical Realism" in his many classic novels & stories. The second & third volumes of the projected trilogy mentioned above were never published in Garcia Marquez's remaining lifetime or as yet since his passing. Offered here is the first American edition, translated into English by Edith Grossman & preceded by a Spanish-language edition the previous year (2002). Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with "11/2003" printed on rear flap), first edition as stated on copyright page, presumed first printing though not stated. We found & have retained, between pages 222-223, a clipped leaf from the November 30, 2003 issue of the New York Times Book Review (pgs. 11-12), much-folded & in very fine condition with moderate browning. This volume is not among those reviewed on this leaf, but we surmise that it was reviewed elsewhere in this issue as its date is within the same month & year of publication (November 2003, per flap as noted above). An essential Garcia Marquez collectible; an already-classic work of autobiography in its rarest original English-language form. Book in very fine condition, substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only very light rubbing & scratching to front, back covers, spine & flaps; a touch of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same. An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the weight of this item. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4983]

Price: $60.00