Noticia de un Secuestro [News of a Kidnapping]

GARCIA MARQUEZ, Gabriel.

$2,500.00

Item Number: 132317

Mexico: Editorial Diana, 1996.

First edition of this work of nonfiction by the Nobel Prize-winning author. Octavo, original illustrated boards. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the half-title page, “Para Juana y Sergio, en la linea contra la Helius – Burlon; y Le amistad de siempre, Gabo 96.” The recipient, Sergio Muñoz Bata and his wife Juana, were close friends of Marquez. They met in 1964 in Mexico City in the home of author Carlos Fuentes, who often hosted a literary open house or “salon” on Sundays. At the time, Marquez was largely unknown to the literary world and still a “starving artist.” Even after his fame, however, Marquez remained very down-to-earth, and the men stayed close friends for over 50 years. When Muñoz Bata moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970’s, they continued to get together regularly with their wives after Marquez purchased a home there.  Sergio Muñoz Bata writes a weekly syndicated column published in 18 newspapers across 11 countries in the hemisphere. He is also both a former Los Angeles Times editorial board member and Executive Editor of La Opinión. In very good condition, with notes and underlining from the recipient. An exceptional association.

The book then examines the first in a series of related kidnappings. On 30 August 1990, Diana Turbay, director of the TV news program Criptón and magazine Hoy x Hoy, was abducted along with four members of her news team. They include editor Azucena Liévano, writer Juan Vitta, and camera operators Richard Becerra and Orlando Acevedo. German journalist Hero Buss was also with them when they were taken. Turbay is the daughter of former Colombian president and Liberal Party leader Julio César Turbay. "A powerful story. . . . In a series of telling strokes, shifting subtly from one perspective to another, García Márquez conveys the madness of the hostages’ imprisonment, the despair, the anger, the false hope, the resignation" (San Francisco Chronicle).