Garcia Marquez Born: Magical Realism's Architect

Gabriel García Márquez had One Hundred Years of Solitude half-finished in his head when the idea hit him driving to Acapulco in 1965. He turned the car around, went home, and didn't emerge for 18 months. His wife sold the car, the television, and ran up debts with the butcher to keep the family fed while he wrote. When he finished, he had enough money to mail only half the manuscript to the publisher in Buenos Aires. He borrowed money and mailed the second half. The publisher called him immediately. First edition: 8,000 copies in Argentina. It sold out in one week. It has since sold over 50 million copies in 46 languages. The Nobel committee called it 'a new dimension in the art of the novel.'