Gabriel Jos de la Concordia Garca Mrquez (Spanish pronunciation: [ga'?jel ?a?'si.a ' ma?

kes] About this sound audio (helpinfo); born March 6, 1928[1]) is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century, he was awarded the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for L iterature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature, and is the earliest remaining living recipient.1 He pursued a self-directed education that resulted in his lea ving law school for a career in journalism. From early on, he showed no inhibiti ons in his criticism of Colombian and foreign politics. In 1958, he married Merc edes Barcha; they have two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo. He started as a journalist, and has written many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of S olitude (1967), Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) and Love in the Time of Cholera ( 1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread comme rcial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magic r ealism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realist ic situations. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo ( the town mainly inspired by his birthplace Aracataca), and most of them express the theme of solitude. An interesting collection of conversations between Marque z and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza titled 'The Fragrance of Guava' provides insights i nto the influences that informed narratives writer's life and narrative.