"When reciting the many qualities of Gabriel García Márquez's writing, critics invariably include his humor. Unfortunately, when readers have to read works in translation, they often miss much of the richness of the original work, including the humor. However, Gregory Rabassa's English translation of García Márquez still provides many linguistic pleasures, not the least of which is the discovery of symbolic repetitions and of the multilayered references submerged within an apparently simple sentence-particularly those that begin the different chapters. Indeed, this joy of discovery often erupts in outright guffawing when we realize that the devilish author frequently turns the references ironically on our expectations and even, on occasion, deliberately misleads us."