García Márquez's last book was published against his wishes

Gabriel García Márquez's latest book was published on Wednesday, what would have been the Colombian author's 97th birthday. Marquez died nearly a decade ago and Un agusto nos famos—Until August In English – it is published against his wishes. His children say he ordered them to destroy the manuscript because it made no sense, but the author suffered from dementia in the last years of his life and had difficulty even recognizing his earlier works. “We concluded that the book, even though it was not finished, made a lot of sense and was very moving,” says Rodrigo Garcia, his eldest son. NPR. “When he said it didn't make sense, he didn't realize it didn't make sense to him anymore.”

The book was released in Spanish on Wednesday. The English version will be released on March 12. Screenwriter Rodrigo Garcia says that when he revisited the book with his younger brother Gonzalo Garcia, it was much better than they remembered. Editor Cristobal Pera, who worked with García Márquez on his memoir, worked on six drafts of the book, including one marked “Gran OK Final.” He says: “He had many notes in the margins, but the novel was complete.” “All the characters, everything.” Pena says that not a single word was added that did not appear in the notes or in any of the author's drafts. He says Until August— which, unlike the author's previous work, features a strong female protagonist — is a “stunning work of art” and he agrees with the brothers' decision to publish it.

Publisher Penguin Random House describes the book as “a profound meditation on freedom, regret, self-transformation, and the mysteries of love.” CNN Reports. The brothers say their father routinely destroyed unfinished manuscripts throughout his career leaving nothing else to publish. In the introduction to Until AugustThey wrote that they hoped their father would forgive them if readers liked the book. the The New York Times He points out that there are many other examples of works published posthumously against the authors' wishes, including much of Franz Kafka's work. Says Colombian novelist Hector Abad timethat he was skeptical about the decision to publish until he read an advance copy. (More Gabriel García Márquez stories.)