Magic realism

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Much of our attention has been directed elsewhere today -- towards the guilt of Scooter "scapegoat" Libby, of course -- but allow me to wish happy birthday to one of the true literary giants of our time and any time, Gabriel García Márquez, who turned 80 today.

To single out any one of his works above the others makes no sense at all, but allow me to do so anyway. Although One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold are justifiably renowned masterpieces of fiction, and although I love them, as I love so much of his work, I would have to say that my favourite of all is the short story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," in Collected Stories.

Happy Birthday, Mr. García Márquez.