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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
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.
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.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 5, 2021
Que leitura deliciosa! Não é uma biografia tradicional, mas uma coletânea de breves relatos e histórias de pessoas que conheceram ou se relacionaram com o Gabriel Garcia Marquez em diferentes momentos da sua vida. A sensação é de estar em uma mesa de bar com estas pessoas, ouvindo causos, de pontos de vista bem pessoais, que variam da admiração à raiva, passando por sentimentos diversos. Dá um quentinho no coração essa sensação de nos aproximar de um escritor tão famoso, além da sua obra. Fora as boas risadas em alguns momentos. Adorei!
"Para apreciar este livro, é preciso deixar de lado a noção de que tudo na vida tem uma única verdade. A história oral ressalta a verdade de cada pessoa. Isso faz parte do seu encanto. Venha para esta festa com essa mentalidade e segurando um copo de uísque ou uma taça de champanhe - o que Gabo preferia, segundo me disseram. Se desejar ter a experiência completa, caminhe até a estante e pegue seu exemplar de Cem Anos de Solidão ou vá até a livraria mais próxima e compre o livro". O meu exemplar, velhinho, já está na mão para uma releitura. #leiturasluciana #livros #leituras
"Para apreciar este livro, é preciso deixar de lado a noção de que tudo na vida tem uma única verdade. A história oral ressalta a verdade de cada pessoa. Isso faz parte do seu encanto. Venha para esta festa com essa mentalidade e segurando um copo de uísque ou uma taça de champanhe - o que Gabo preferia, segundo me disseram. Se desejar ter a experiência completa, caminhe até a estante e pegue seu exemplar de Cem Anos de Solidão ou vá até a livraria mais próxima e compre o livro". O meu exemplar, velhinho, já está na mão para uma releitura. #leiturasluciana #livros #leituras
November 28, 2020
The most beautiful book I've read all year. Such a rich and interesting way to learn about Gabo's life from so many different perspectives, and to get more context into the stories that inspired One Hundred Years. Viva Gabo!
January 31, 2025
Fico genuinamente triste em dar uma nota tão baixa a um livro com tanto potencial quanto "Solidão e Companhia".
Recontando a trajetória de vida e carreira de Gabriel Garcia Márquez através dos olhos de seus parentes, agentes, fotógrafos, amigos de longa e curta data, e inspirações pra seus personagens, o livro tem momentos muito bons e anedotas maravilhosas sobre quem era Gabo pessoa e sobre como Gabo escritor funcionava. Única razão pela qual mantenho pelo menos duas estrelas. É impossível fazer algo sobre Gabo ser irresgatável. E uma segunda estrela pela foto sua sorrindo com o olho roxo.
Dito isso, a existência dessa obra é uma tragédia. O formato do texto tenta simular um documentário, e é uma distração do começo ao fim, funcionando mais como exceção do que como regra.
Mas pra mim o pior de tudo, e o que mancha todo o potencial do livro, é aquela tacanha tentativa de despolitizar e "cortar as garras" de figuras comunistas (e de esquerda num geral) que sejam idolatradas em consenso. Desde a introdução a forma como a autora constrói sua própria narrativa já me fez arredio. Financiada pela Disney, se descrevendo como uma novaiorquina que acontece de ter nascido na Colômbia - uma coisa meio Lin Manuel Miranda se valendo de sua minoria pra fantasiar os pais fundadores dos EUA de minorias e personagens cool. Mas seria capaz de perdoar tudo isso; também me divirto com Hamilton, não se trata só disso.
Só mesmo uma ianque na pele de latinoamericano na missão de aguar as convicções de um ídolo reconhecidamente comunista, fingindo que se trata de excentricidade ao invés de compromisso aos próprios ideais. Gabo era amigo de Castro, mas porque era apaixonado pelo poder e por figuras fortes, natural de todo escritor, diz um escritor gringo que se diz admirador de figuras de esquerda - como Jimmy Carter e Bill Clinton. Apoiava Cuba e intercedeu como pode contra o embargo, encurralando Clinton em um jantar, porque era um apaixonado. Tratam do racha da amizade entre Gabo e Vargas Llosa mais como uma briga por mulher do que a violenta guinada à direita do facho do Mário. Tenta-se criar essa figura de um Gabriel Garcia Márquez despolitizado, excêntrico ao invés de revolucionário, tomado pela fama e por isso distante da razão; torná-lo palatável ao estadunidense liberal. Reivindicá-lo a um centrismo que tenta te convencer que era um gênio, embora embebido de fantasia demais para ser razoável. Toda e qualquer discussão potencialmente relevante morre na sombra deste desastre.
Gabo recebe neste livro o mesmo tratamento que Frida Kahlo e Malala Yousafzai na literatura. E isso é imperdoável. Viva Gabo, e sua memória livre de vernizes que tentam lhe tirar o brilho.
Recontando a trajetória de vida e carreira de Gabriel Garcia Márquez através dos olhos de seus parentes, agentes, fotógrafos, amigos de longa e curta data, e inspirações pra seus personagens, o livro tem momentos muito bons e anedotas maravilhosas sobre quem era Gabo pessoa e sobre como Gabo escritor funcionava. Única razão pela qual mantenho pelo menos duas estrelas. É impossível fazer algo sobre Gabo ser irresgatável. E uma segunda estrela pela foto sua sorrindo com o olho roxo.
Dito isso, a existência dessa obra é uma tragédia. O formato do texto tenta simular um documentário, e é uma distração do começo ao fim, funcionando mais como exceção do que como regra.
Mas pra mim o pior de tudo, e o que mancha todo o potencial do livro, é aquela tacanha tentativa de despolitizar e "cortar as garras" de figuras comunistas (e de esquerda num geral) que sejam idolatradas em consenso. Desde a introdução a forma como a autora constrói sua própria narrativa já me fez arredio. Financiada pela Disney, se descrevendo como uma novaiorquina que acontece de ter nascido na Colômbia - uma coisa meio Lin Manuel Miranda se valendo de sua minoria pra fantasiar os pais fundadores dos EUA de minorias e personagens cool. Mas seria capaz de perdoar tudo isso; também me divirto com Hamilton, não se trata só disso.
Só mesmo uma ianque na pele de latinoamericano na missão de aguar as convicções de um ídolo reconhecidamente comunista, fingindo que se trata de excentricidade ao invés de compromisso aos próprios ideais. Gabo era amigo de Castro, mas porque era apaixonado pelo poder e por figuras fortes, natural de todo escritor, diz um escritor gringo que se diz admirador de figuras de esquerda - como Jimmy Carter e Bill Clinton. Apoiava Cuba e intercedeu como pode contra o embargo, encurralando Clinton em um jantar, porque era um apaixonado. Tratam do racha da amizade entre Gabo e Vargas Llosa mais como uma briga por mulher do que a violenta guinada à direita do facho do Mário. Tenta-se criar essa figura de um Gabriel Garcia Márquez despolitizado, excêntrico ao invés de revolucionário, tomado pela fama e por isso distante da razão; torná-lo palatável ao estadunidense liberal. Reivindicá-lo a um centrismo que tenta te convencer que era um gênio, embora embebido de fantasia demais para ser razoável. Toda e qualquer discussão potencialmente relevante morre na sombra deste desastre.
Gabo recebe neste livro o mesmo tratamento que Frida Kahlo e Malala Yousafzai na literatura. E isso é imperdoável. Viva Gabo, e sua memória livre de vernizes que tentam lhe tirar o brilho.
June 25, 2019
Imagine a round-table in a Colombian tavern where old pals of Gabriel Garcia Marquez gather to dish and reminisce. For sure, they are surprised that he has, of any of them, become world-famous and rich. They recall when he snuck into their lives, listened quietly to their stories and had very little money. He is a "lizard," a term you will never forget from their booze-fueled gab fests. Yes, Gabito had a great sense of humor and a memory like an elephant, but why was he the one to grab the gold? Paternostro's book is revealing about how little Gabito was respected or recognized until he was granted the Nobel Prize. One of the many highlights of the story tells of his bringing a fiesta from the coastline of Colombia to the usually restrained Nobel ceremony in chilly Sweden and the equally chilly King. That raucous invasion produced a spectacle that made the King erupt with enthusiasm at the surprise and fun of Gabito's unique gift to all in the hall. Nobody had done it before, nobody has tried it since. As for Gabito's other gifts to the world, we find out where his stories originated and from whom. This is a book aflame with life. We are blessed.
September 13, 2021
I picked up this book in search of a similar presentation of a writer’s life to a book I’m working on, The Moritz Thomsen Reader to strengthen my proposal to attract a publisher. Moritz wrote Living Poor, and my book will be an anthology of the writers who knew him best. And “Gabo” is one of the great writers of Latin America recognized with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. Both irreverent and hopeful, the book recounts the life of a boy from the provinces who decided to become a writer. This is the story of how he did it.
A note in the first chapter reveals much of the author’s political persuasions in life. He reportedly changed his date of birth to coincide to the “Banana Massacre” in 1928, when the Colombian Army killed workers of the United Fruit Company who were protesting poor working conditions. He wrote about it in his classic, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and according to the book, 3,000 workers were killed, and this account entered the annals of Colombian history in a twist of “magical realism,” for which he’s most known.
Close to fifty friends, family and writers share their stories about the author—some of which seem somewhat frivolous, but some real gems appeared, such as which writers impacted his work. Guillermo Angulo, a Colombian writer, orchid grower and a close friend of the author reveals the influence of one author from the South of the U.S., “…He sees the true Faulkner. He sees him in images. But he already knows Faulkner as a twin soul. I think he’s his most important influence from a technical point of view because afterward he invents an entire world…”
William Styron, an author from the southern U.S. who wrote Sophie’s Choice, received a Pulitzer Prize, and included both Gabo and Carlos Fuentes among his friends, went on to say,
Well, I think that’s the reason for his great admiration of Faulkner, because Faulkner, without the tag of magic realism, nonetheless visualized and created an entire world, a universe based on an actual world, which was the Mississippi he made his own and called Yoknapatawpha. Macondo is the equivalent of Yoknapatawpha. And I think that was an important contribution of Faulkner to Gabo’s own sense of literary creation.
Styron tells of an interesting conversation between Gabo and President Clinton, in which Gabo says that without Faulkner, he wouldn’t have been able to write a single word; that Faulkner was his direct inspiration as a writer when he was just beginning to pursue real world literature in Colombia. And that he had made a pilgrimage to Oxford… (Oxford, Mississippi where many of Faulkner’s stories took place).
Margarita de la Vega, a Carrageenan academic and film producer whose father was a close friend of Gabo says the following about what sets the author’s work apart from many writers. She admires One Hundred Years of Solitude because,
…it’s a vernacular, universal, and encyclopedic book all at the same time. That’s why One Hundred Years of Solitude sells so well and is read so much; because you can be a Colombian janitor…and understand it on a level different from the level of the scholar who looks up all the references and all that nonsense. He lives the story, the tragedies, the family, the evolution, the historical context, because he’s somebody who has lived it and suffered it and heard it talked about in his family. It isn’t something they read in books. It’s part of our culture
.
She goes on to describe where and how he developed some of the characters in One Hundred Years of Solitude, “It’s the part about being a person from Cartagena from a traditional family, insofar as the families of Cartagena were traditional, because when I look at the families of my friends and others, there was always a little bit of everything. When I saw him, I said: “No, but the character from Love in the Time of Cholera isn’t my father.” Then he said to me, “No, Florentino is my father. We won’t take that away from him. “Then he said to me, “I was interested in somehow transforming the love story of my father and mother.” (I think that’s the time when his father is sick) …. “I see my father’s influence more in the style of the novel, which is a nineteenth-century tale with lots of characters, written in the style of Balzac. It has a huge number of characters. It’s the portrait of an age. The love story is important, but it isn’t fundamental. It was his source of inspiration. He always wanted to write something new and different.” Santiago Mutis elucidates, “The Gabo of today is a Gabo who works things out. He tells his story. Which is literary. It doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It’s literary.” Mutis is a Colombian poet and godson of Garcia Marquez.
Styron describes a very important relationship of Gabo, which impacts how he sees the world. “I believe Gabo has become a very close friend of Castro’s, and I believe it’s the kind of friendship that was molded fairly early in the years of Castro’s ascent. I’m using the world “ascent” here as a climb to power in Cuba. A process that has caused such a shower of violent criticism to fall on Garcia Marquez’s head. But I think their friendship is very solid and that Gabo is determined to make the best of it.”
One of the highlights of this book is Silvana Paternostro’s ability to obtain statements and stories from close to fifty people who knew Gabo. Including Emmanuel Carballo, the Mexican editor and writer who was part of the group that embraced Gabo when he settled in Mexico City and founded a literary magazine with Carlos Fuentes; Maria Luisa Elio, also part of the intellectuals in Mexico City and a refugee from Spain, who produced a film, “On the Empty Balcony,” directed by her husband—One Hundred Years of Solitude was dedicated to her and her husband, Hector Rojas Herazo, a Colombian poet, novelist journalist, and painter who worked with Gabo at the newspaper “El Universal” in Cartagena, and Rose Styron, a poet and human rights activist from the U.S. and part of the Amnesty International board who worked with Gabo on several Latin American causes.
Among the most revealing review statements on this book:
"Solitude & Company captures Gabo—the man, the times and the places that created him. How a man from the Caribbean made a universe that the world embraced. Everyone who loves Gabriel García Márquez's work will enjoy this wonderful book." —Benicio Del Toro
“If I may be allowed to mix up a metaphor: This is a kaleidoscopic cocktail of voices—vibrant, eloquent, intoxicating—inspired by that endlessly fascinating literary magician, Gabriel García Márquez (a.k.a. Gabo/Gabito/etc.). And the cocktail has been mixed and shaken, expertly and knowingly, by Silvana Paternostro. ¡Salud!” —Gerald Martin, author of Gabriel García Márquez: A Life
About the Author
Prize-winning journalist SILVANA PATERNOSTRO grew up in Barranquilla, Colombia, home to García Márquez’s fabled literary group, La Cueva. In 1999, she was selected by Time/CNN as one of “Fifty Latin American Leaders for the Millennium,” and is the author of In the Land of God and Man, nominated for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, and My Colombian War. She is a frequent contributor to English and Spanish publications including the New York Times, the Paris Review, the New York Review of Books, Vogue, and El Malpensante and Gatopardo. She lives between New York City and Colombia.
Translator EDITH GROSSMAN is one of the most renowned Spanish-to-English translators of our time. In addition to translating seven of Gabriel García Márquez’s novels, including Love in the Time of Cholera and Memories of My Melancholy Whores, she has translated works by Miguel de Cervantes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Ariel Dorfman, to name a few. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a PEN Ralph Manheim Medal, an Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and many other awards and honors. She teaches at Columbia University in New York City.
Product details
• Publisher : Seven Stories Press; Illustrated edition (February 26, 2019)
• Language : English
• Hardcover : 336 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1609808967
• ISBN-13 : 978-1609808969
• Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
• Dimensions : 5.81 x 1.07 x 8.56 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #1,351,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
o #154 in Colombian History
o #571 in Hispanic & Latin Biographies
o #667 in Historical Latin America Biographies
• Customer Reviews:
4.6 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
The Reviewer
Mark Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and spent over forty years helping disadvantaged people in the developing world. He came to Phoenix as a Senior Director for Food for the Hungry, worked with other groups like Make-A-Wish International and was the CEO of Hagar USA, a Christian-based organization that supports survivors of human trafficking.
His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Literary Association for Non-Fiction and, according to the Midwest Review, “…is more than just another travel memoir. It is an engaged and engaging story of one man’s physical and spiritual journey of self-discovery…”
Several of his articles have been published in Ragazine and WorldView Magazines, Literary Yard, Literary Travelers and Quail BELL, while another was recognized by the “Solas Literary Award for Best Travel Writing.” His reviews have been published by Revue Magazine, as well as Peace Corps Worldwide, and he has his own column in the Arizona Authors Association newsletter, “The Million Mile Walker Review: What We’re Reading and Why.”
His honors include the "Service Above Self" award from Rotary International. He’s a board member of “Advance Guatemala.” His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. You can learn more at www.MillionMileWalker.com and follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/millionmilew...
A note in the first chapter reveals much of the author’s political persuasions in life. He reportedly changed his date of birth to coincide to the “Banana Massacre” in 1928, when the Colombian Army killed workers of the United Fruit Company who were protesting poor working conditions. He wrote about it in his classic, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and according to the book, 3,000 workers were killed, and this account entered the annals of Colombian history in a twist of “magical realism,” for which he’s most known.
Close to fifty friends, family and writers share their stories about the author—some of which seem somewhat frivolous, but some real gems appeared, such as which writers impacted his work. Guillermo Angulo, a Colombian writer, orchid grower and a close friend of the author reveals the influence of one author from the South of the U.S., “…He sees the true Faulkner. He sees him in images. But he already knows Faulkner as a twin soul. I think he’s his most important influence from a technical point of view because afterward he invents an entire world…”
William Styron, an author from the southern U.S. who wrote Sophie’s Choice, received a Pulitzer Prize, and included both Gabo and Carlos Fuentes among his friends, went on to say,
Well, I think that’s the reason for his great admiration of Faulkner, because Faulkner, without the tag of magic realism, nonetheless visualized and created an entire world, a universe based on an actual world, which was the Mississippi he made his own and called Yoknapatawpha. Macondo is the equivalent of Yoknapatawpha. And I think that was an important contribution of Faulkner to Gabo’s own sense of literary creation.
Styron tells of an interesting conversation between Gabo and President Clinton, in which Gabo says that without Faulkner, he wouldn’t have been able to write a single word; that Faulkner was his direct inspiration as a writer when he was just beginning to pursue real world literature in Colombia. And that he had made a pilgrimage to Oxford… (Oxford, Mississippi where many of Faulkner’s stories took place).
Margarita de la Vega, a Carrageenan academic and film producer whose father was a close friend of Gabo says the following about what sets the author’s work apart from many writers. She admires One Hundred Years of Solitude because,
…it’s a vernacular, universal, and encyclopedic book all at the same time. That’s why One Hundred Years of Solitude sells so well and is read so much; because you can be a Colombian janitor…and understand it on a level different from the level of the scholar who looks up all the references and all that nonsense. He lives the story, the tragedies, the family, the evolution, the historical context, because he’s somebody who has lived it and suffered it and heard it talked about in his family. It isn’t something they read in books. It’s part of our culture
.
She goes on to describe where and how he developed some of the characters in One Hundred Years of Solitude, “It’s the part about being a person from Cartagena from a traditional family, insofar as the families of Cartagena were traditional, because when I look at the families of my friends and others, there was always a little bit of everything. When I saw him, I said: “No, but the character from Love in the Time of Cholera isn’t my father.” Then he said to me, “No, Florentino is my father. We won’t take that away from him. “Then he said to me, “I was interested in somehow transforming the love story of my father and mother.” (I think that’s the time when his father is sick) …. “I see my father’s influence more in the style of the novel, which is a nineteenth-century tale with lots of characters, written in the style of Balzac. It has a huge number of characters. It’s the portrait of an age. The love story is important, but it isn’t fundamental. It was his source of inspiration. He always wanted to write something new and different.” Santiago Mutis elucidates, “The Gabo of today is a Gabo who works things out. He tells his story. Which is literary. It doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It’s literary.” Mutis is a Colombian poet and godson of Garcia Marquez.
Styron describes a very important relationship of Gabo, which impacts how he sees the world. “I believe Gabo has become a very close friend of Castro’s, and I believe it’s the kind of friendship that was molded fairly early in the years of Castro’s ascent. I’m using the world “ascent” here as a climb to power in Cuba. A process that has caused such a shower of violent criticism to fall on Garcia Marquez’s head. But I think their friendship is very solid and that Gabo is determined to make the best of it.”
One of the highlights of this book is Silvana Paternostro’s ability to obtain statements and stories from close to fifty people who knew Gabo. Including Emmanuel Carballo, the Mexican editor and writer who was part of the group that embraced Gabo when he settled in Mexico City and founded a literary magazine with Carlos Fuentes; Maria Luisa Elio, also part of the intellectuals in Mexico City and a refugee from Spain, who produced a film, “On the Empty Balcony,” directed by her husband—One Hundred Years of Solitude was dedicated to her and her husband, Hector Rojas Herazo, a Colombian poet, novelist journalist, and painter who worked with Gabo at the newspaper “El Universal” in Cartagena, and Rose Styron, a poet and human rights activist from the U.S. and part of the Amnesty International board who worked with Gabo on several Latin American causes.
Among the most revealing review statements on this book:
"Solitude & Company captures Gabo—the man, the times and the places that created him. How a man from the Caribbean made a universe that the world embraced. Everyone who loves Gabriel García Márquez's work will enjoy this wonderful book." —Benicio Del Toro
“If I may be allowed to mix up a metaphor: This is a kaleidoscopic cocktail of voices—vibrant, eloquent, intoxicating—inspired by that endlessly fascinating literary magician, Gabriel García Márquez (a.k.a. Gabo/Gabito/etc.). And the cocktail has been mixed and shaken, expertly and knowingly, by Silvana Paternostro. ¡Salud!” —Gerald Martin, author of Gabriel García Márquez: A Life
About the Author
Prize-winning journalist SILVANA PATERNOSTRO grew up in Barranquilla, Colombia, home to García Márquez’s fabled literary group, La Cueva. In 1999, she was selected by Time/CNN as one of “Fifty Latin American Leaders for the Millennium,” and is the author of In the Land of God and Man, nominated for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, and My Colombian War. She is a frequent contributor to English and Spanish publications including the New York Times, the Paris Review, the New York Review of Books, Vogue, and El Malpensante and Gatopardo. She lives between New York City and Colombia.
Translator EDITH GROSSMAN is one of the most renowned Spanish-to-English translators of our time. In addition to translating seven of Gabriel García Márquez’s novels, including Love in the Time of Cholera and Memories of My Melancholy Whores, she has translated works by Miguel de Cervantes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Ariel Dorfman, to name a few. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a PEN Ralph Manheim Medal, an Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and many other awards and honors. She teaches at Columbia University in New York City.
Product details
• Publisher : Seven Stories Press; Illustrated edition (February 26, 2019)
• Language : English
• Hardcover : 336 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1609808967
• ISBN-13 : 978-1609808969
• Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
• Dimensions : 5.81 x 1.07 x 8.56 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #1,351,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
o #154 in Colombian History
o #571 in Hispanic & Latin Biographies
o #667 in Historical Latin America Biographies
• Customer Reviews:
4.6 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
The Reviewer
Mark Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and spent over forty years helping disadvantaged people in the developing world. He came to Phoenix as a Senior Director for Food for the Hungry, worked with other groups like Make-A-Wish International and was the CEO of Hagar USA, a Christian-based organization that supports survivors of human trafficking.
His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Literary Association for Non-Fiction and, according to the Midwest Review, “…is more than just another travel memoir. It is an engaged and engaging story of one man’s physical and spiritual journey of self-discovery…”
Several of his articles have been published in Ragazine and WorldView Magazines, Literary Yard, Literary Travelers and Quail BELL, while another was recognized by the “Solas Literary Award for Best Travel Writing.” His reviews have been published by Revue Magazine, as well as Peace Corps Worldwide, and he has his own column in the Arizona Authors Association newsletter, “The Million Mile Walker Review: What We’re Reading and Why.”
His honors include the "Service Above Self" award from Rotary International. He’s a board member of “Advance Guatemala.” His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. You can learn more at www.MillionMileWalker.com and follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/millionmilew...
December 27, 2022
“The truth is I don’t know what happened but from one day to the next we all woke up old “
“He was precisely solitude and company. A solitary person with a feeling about who he was, but at the same time he needed his friends, and sought out affection and admiration.”
The more you learn about Gabo the more you admire his writings!
Love in the time of cholera; influenced by Balzac’s writing, based on fictionalized love story of his parents!
The discipline he put in to write 100 yrs of solitude, which he was really certain going to be a huge literary piece!
The journalistic fact behind ‘Chronicles of death foretold’
Friends, storytelling, gathering at La cueva, makes us feel like Gabo is among us, the friend who is writing their first novel and is told you better do something useful!
“He was precisely solitude and company. A solitary person with a feeling about who he was, but at the same time he needed his friends, and sought out affection and admiration.”
The more you learn about Gabo the more you admire his writings!
Love in the time of cholera; influenced by Balzac’s writing, based on fictionalized love story of his parents!
The discipline he put in to write 100 yrs of solitude, which he was really certain going to be a huge literary piece!
The journalistic fact behind ‘Chronicles of death foretold’
Friends, storytelling, gathering at La cueva, makes us feel like Gabo is among us, the friend who is writing their first novel and is told you better do something useful!
July 24, 2019
I read "SOLITUDE & COMPANY" as an 'inverted memoir' in which Silvana Paternostro very smartly compiled a biography of the Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez as told by the various personages she interviewed who knew García Márquez best, through various periods of his life, from childhood to death. Indeed, it was these people who, through their impressions of García Márquez and his various incarnations --- journalist, struggling writer, celebrated writer (following the massive success of his novel 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' in 1967), and Nobel laureate & world celebrity --- made him for me a tangible and interesting person.
Reading this 'testimonial' has been an experience that I won't soon forget. I enjoyed it.
("SOLITUDE & COMPANY" also contains a number of photos featuring García Márquez and the various persons in his life, as well as a few pages of biographical ''Notes on the Most Important Voices' on many of the persons Paternostro had interviewed for the book.)
Reading this 'testimonial' has been an experience that I won't soon forget. I enjoyed it.
("SOLITUDE & COMPANY" also contains a number of photos featuring García Márquez and the various persons in his life, as well as a few pages of biographical ''Notes on the Most Important Voices' on many of the persons Paternostro had interviewed for the book.)
August 26, 2023
I've never read "One Hundred Years of Solitude"; I've tried to get into it a couple of times, but I rarely get far before I just give up. I'm not sure why; it comes highly recommended from some literary-minded friends of mine, and of course it has the reputation as the ur-text of Latin American magical realism. But maybe after finishing this delightful oral biography of its author, I could give it another try.
"Solitude and Company" is an oral biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez (or "Gabo," as his friends knew him), covering his early years of struggle and the fame that swept over him in the wake of "One Hundred Years" being published in 1967. Friends, family members, associates both close and distant, all chime in on various aspects of Garcia Marquez's life and work, and the cumulative effect is a very entertaining and at times conflicting accounting of one writer's life and work.
I've read "Love In the Time of Cholera," albeit a few decades back, but I've never really dipped my toe into Garcia Marquez's work since. This book makes a compelling argument to do so, at least in terms of his most famous work. It seems, according to the folks interviewed, that many of the fantastical elements have their roots in real life. Garcia Marquez was a journalist before he was a full-time novelist, and he did a lot of research for his fictions. He also found inspiration in the work of William Faulkner, who has become an unexpected favorite of mine this year (I'd read some of Faulkner's work ages ago, but both "Sanctuary" and "Light In August" have come into my life recently as great works worthy of my time). Garcia Marquez was a different man post-breakthrough, as anyone would be, and not all the stories here are flattering. But he was a very creative individual whose influence continues to linger in many forms of literature, and this was a useful glimpse into how all that came together. I really enjoyed this book, and I'm going to try to be more open to more Latin American literature in general.
"Solitude and Company" is an oral biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez (or "Gabo," as his friends knew him), covering his early years of struggle and the fame that swept over him in the wake of "One Hundred Years" being published in 1967. Friends, family members, associates both close and distant, all chime in on various aspects of Garcia Marquez's life and work, and the cumulative effect is a very entertaining and at times conflicting accounting of one writer's life and work.
I've read "Love In the Time of Cholera," albeit a few decades back, but I've never really dipped my toe into Garcia Marquez's work since. This book makes a compelling argument to do so, at least in terms of his most famous work. It seems, according to the folks interviewed, that many of the fantastical elements have their roots in real life. Garcia Marquez was a journalist before he was a full-time novelist, and he did a lot of research for his fictions. He also found inspiration in the work of William Faulkner, who has become an unexpected favorite of mine this year (I'd read some of Faulkner's work ages ago, but both "Sanctuary" and "Light In August" have come into my life recently as great works worthy of my time). Garcia Marquez was a different man post-breakthrough, as anyone would be, and not all the stories here are flattering. But he was a very creative individual whose influence continues to linger in many forms of literature, and this was a useful glimpse into how all that came together. I really enjoyed this book, and I'm going to try to be more open to more Latin American literature in general.
April 20, 2023
Paternostro busca dar un retrato de Gabriel García Márquez a través de las personas que lo conocieron, pero quien pensó que ella se basaría en las entrevistas que condujo con estas personas para llegar a una versión condensada, se equivocaría. Paternostro presenta los comentarios de los entrevistados limitándose a agruparlos por el periodo de la vida de García Márquez a los que se refieren y a quien dijo que. El resultado es una obra impresionista que no busca llegar a una biografía, sino que presenta las muchas versiones de García Márquez, mutualmente conflictivas, que los entrevistados dicen reconocer. Aunque esta obra definitivamente da una idea del mundo en el que García Márquez creció, escribió y se volvió un ídolo, siempre queda una frustración con la decisión de priorizar las versiones que otros tuvieron de él sobre el intento de llegar a algo más conciso.
June 2, 2025
What a fascinating way to write a biography. Paternostro aimed to capture the 'realism' of Garcia Marquez by using oral interview segments of his friends and family. In a way, this style paid homage to One Hundred Years of Solitude by being a jumbled fantasy of facts and contradictions. One friend could say Mercedes and Gabo were a true compatible love story, another would say Gabo would cheat and Mercedes turn a blind eye. Reality can attest both statements to be true. I tried to read just as I read One Hundred Years, by not focusing on the minute details but as a dream sequence. I'm not sure this was the correct way to read and while I remember a lot, I lost nuance and intrigue throughout several chapters. I'd highly recommend becoming accustomed to his work prior to reading Solitude and Company.
January 18, 2022
This book is a collection of oral interviews about Gabriel Garcia Marquez, told in chapters that feel like a conversation was taking place. I am not sure if that is what happened but it feels like all these people who knew Gabriel Garcia Marquez are remembering him at different times in his life. About 2/3 of the book takes place in the years before A HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE was published. They bring out the influences in Colombia and in Latin America on his life and writing. I have read most of his novels and non-fiction so it was enjoyable hearing how many of these books came to be written and what influenced each book. A good overview of his life.
May 9, 2023
Ir tras los pasos de este gran autor es perderse en distintos caminos y recurrir a diferentes libros para intentar conocerlo. En la mayoría de los casos aquellos que escriben estos libros no son muy buenos haciéndolo, y nos encontramos con libros como este que recoge distintas grabaciones de diferentes personas y las transcribe. Solo engloba las grabaciones en épocas de la vida y no las une de ninguna manera no da sentido a estas.
Un libro que no contiene mucha más información de la que puedes encontrar en internet.
No creo que aporte nada que no se supiera ya del autor.
Un libro que no contiene mucha más información de la que puedes encontrar en internet.
No creo que aporte nada que no se supiera ya del autor.
April 18, 2024
Sou fã de biografias, e sou mais ainda fã de Gabito, então, nada melhor que este livro. A narração da vida de Gabriel Garcia Marquez, através de seus familiares, amigos e fãs, é confortável e estimulante de ler. A trajetória de vida do escritor é, por si só, impressionante e o estilo literário escolhido nos aproxima mais ainda do colombiano. Encararei minhas próximas leituras do autor com um olhar muito mais atento aos detalhes. Por mais que Gabo tenha sido um dos grandes nomes do realismo mágico, estou cada vez mais convencida que ele nunca escreveu ficções.
March 4, 2020
Maravillosa manera de conocer más sobre tu autor favorito. Una grandiosa recopilación de anécdotas de los amigos más íntimos de Gabo hasta personas que tuvieron un simple encuentro con él que los marcó de por vida. Desde sus inicios, historias íntimas de su familia y amigos de la infancia hasta su vida adulta, su desarrollo como escritos y su particular sabor costeño.
May 7, 2022
Книга состоит из воспоминаний самых разных людей, от родных братьев и сестер до друзей, коллег и поклонников писателя. По словам Патерностро, этот сборник задумывался именно в формате устной истории, поэтому она по возможности минимально редактировала слова людей.
Книга поделена на главы, каждая из которых посвящена определенному периоду жизни Гарсиа Маркеса или какому-то аспекту его жизни и творчества. Например, момент получения Нобелевской премии или дружба с Фиделем Кастро.
Воспоминания все очень разные и даже противоречивые. Одни считают Гарсиа Маркеса гением, а другие - что он просто появился на сцене в нужное время и в нужном месте; одни сетуют, что став знаменитым, он зазнался, другие же указывают, что Габо всегда был максимально простым и открытым.
Тем не менее, во многом эти воспоминания все же совпадали, так что мне удалось по ним составить собственное представление о Габо как о человеке. Ничуть не удивилась, узнав, что его воспитывали дедушка с бабушкой. Судя по моему опыту, такие люди обычно не по годам зрелые, потому что в детстве постоянно набирались разных премудростей от пожилых людей)
Что меня удивило, так это то, что Габо дружил с диктаторами. С тем же Фиделем Кастро, например. Не ожидаешь такого от человека, написавшего "Осень патриарха". С другой стороны, только человек, близко знающий таких людей, мог настолько точно, живо и отталкивающе написать портрет этого пресловутого патриарха, в кото��ом можно узнать чуть ли не каждого президента в нашем регионе.
Книга поделена на главы, каждая из которых посвящена определенному периоду жизни Гарсиа Маркеса или какому-то аспекту его жизни и творчества. Например, момент получения Нобелевской премии или дружба с Фиделем Кастро.
Воспоминания все очень разные и даже противоречивые. Одни считают Гарсиа Маркеса гением, а другие - что он просто появился на сцене в нужное время и в нужном месте; одни сетуют, что став знаменитым, он зазнался, другие же указывают, что Габо всегда был максимально простым и открытым.
Тем не менее, во многом эти воспоминания все же совпадали, так что мне удалось по ним составить собственное представление о Габо как о человеке. Ничуть не удивилась, узнав, что его воспитывали дедушка с бабушкой. Судя по моему опыту, такие люди обычно не по годам зрелые, потому что в детстве постоянно набирались разных премудростей от пожилых людей)
Что меня удивило, так это то, что Габо дружил с диктаторами. С тем же Фиделем Кастро, например. Не ожидаешь такого от человека, написавшего "Осень патриарха". С другой стороны, только человек, близко знающий таких людей, мог настолько точно, живо и отталкивающе написать портрет этого пресловутого патриарха, в кото��ом можно узнать чуть ли не каждого президента в нашем регионе.
September 5, 2023
Први пут се сусрећем са оваквом врстом биограскоф приступа.
Аутор(ица) сем у уводу препушта све својим саговорницима (до те мјере их интерпретира да читате и док ови наручују пиће током разговора-ваљда је у кафани био исти).
За оног ко жели да упозна Маркеса из најнепосредније перспективе - топло препоручујем.
Аутор(ица) сем у уводу препушта све својим саговорницима (до те мјере их интерпретира да читате и док ови наручују пиће током разговора-ваљда је у кафани био исти).
За оног ко жели да упозна Маркеса из најнепосредније перспективе - топло препоручујем.
October 1, 2024
wow, increíble! As someone who loves Márquez and who chose to talk about him in my Spanish literature class in college, I’m literally obsessed with this book. His personal life, seen through the eyes of friends and family, is truly something you should read, whether or not you're interested in his life.
February 26, 2020
Muy corto libros de anécdotas de Gabo, se lee en dos horas, incluyendo pausas. Solo puedo agregar que una vez vi a Gabi en un sueño, sentado en una librería, hablándome de la literatura, años después encontré la librería del sueños en Lima, en Miraflores, y él estuvo ahí hacía años.
January 23, 2022
Por momentos empalagosa, por momentos desenfocada, pero tiene mucha informacion interesante y presentada con mucha sabrosura caribeña. No esperen preguntas contundentes ni examenes profundos, esto es lectura liviana, es mas bien para los creyentes.
January 20, 2025
This is an entertaining biography that is based on narrations, and actual experiences, of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's friends, and people who shared and interacted with him.
Great Job from Silvana Paternostro.
Great Job from Silvana Paternostro.
June 23, 2019
Simply a well done, well organized oral history of Marquez from people who knew him from throughout his life.
July 10, 2019
This is a really fun read for any Garcia Marquez fan. It honestly made me so excited to go back to some of my favorite Gabo favorites now that I know which friends make cameos.
September 21, 2020
This is an interesting take on the biography genre, and provides some nice context for García Márquez’s life and works. I would definitely recommend this to fans of his.
June 29, 2021
A biografia mais leve, divertida e gostosa que já li.
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October 21, 2022A biography in a format I have never seen before - once I was able to keep the main group straight it was like eavesdropping on a conversation about a long time friend
November 10, 2022
Un libro maravilloso que nos permite conoce a este gran autor a través d elos ojos de quienes lo convivieron, na excelente aportación que nos descubre o reafirma al personaje
February 15, 2025
Una forma diferente de conocer a Gabo, es interesante y muy divertido.
June 29, 2025
Esta biografia nos traz percepções pessoais de gente próxima ao Gabo, falando sobre ele, como (na visão deles) ele tornou-se autor e seu apego pela escrita. Tudo com um tom de mais fofoca e opiniões pessoais mas que nos entregam aspectos da vida e obra do autor (principalmente, Cem Anos de Solidão e Náufrago), além de conhecermos mais a Colômbia.
A leitura me trouxe também a vontade de pesquisar sobre vários assuntos, lugares citados e também coloquei vallenato para tocar enquanto li as partes sobre. Entretanto, não é nada aprofundado, são amigos e conhecidos falando sobre um autor super famoso e que recebeu o Nobel de Literatura, mesmo assim acho que vale a leitura, também pode ser uma porta de entrada para procurar pela biografia mais densa sobre ele e ir lendo todas as suas obras citadas aqui.
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Meu canal: https://www.youtube.com/@chapter1-books
A leitura me trouxe também a vontade de pesquisar sobre vários assuntos, lugares citados e também coloquei vallenato para tocar enquanto li as partes sobre. Entretanto, não é nada aprofundado, são amigos e conhecidos falando sobre um autor super famoso e que recebeu o Nobel de Literatura, mesmo assim acho que vale a leitura, também pode ser uma porta de entrada para procurar pela biografia mais densa sobre ele e ir lendo todas as suas obras citadas aqui.
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Meu canal: https://www.youtube.com/@chapter1-books
October 11, 2015
Excelente libro, lo disfruté mucho. Totalmente una perspectiva diferente de Gabo a través de la opinión de amigos, conocidos y familiares, y qué mejor manera que por medio de la oralitura.
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