Yo no vengo a decir un discurso (Vintage Espanol) (Spanish Edition)

This series of speeches and conferences spanning seven decades doesn't exactly offer a new perspective on Colombian Nobel laureate García Márquez. As in countless journalistic articles (although not so many interviews), he champions a more unified Latin America, bemoans injustice and poverty, and frowns upon U.S. imperialism. Fans of his novels will surely enjoy his prodigious storytelling abilities and delightful anecdotes of his writing of Cien años de soledad. Critics will probably take aim at his sometimes inflated adjectivation. Among the best-known texts are his 1982 Nobel Prize speech and his controversial 1997 call to do away with orthography. Alongside insightful sketches of fellow writers and friends (e.g., Álvaro Mutis, Julio Cortázar), there is further evidence of his grating tendency to eulogize powerful men (former Colombian president Belisario Betancur is a "poet to whom destiny inflicted the penitence of power" and Fidel Castro is "the world's least-known filmmaker"). In the end, however, his illuminating musings on journalism should be required reading for everyone. Recommended for all libraries and bookstores.—Carlos Rodríguez Martorell, East Elmhurst, NY