Collected here are some the novel's best critics to introduce high school students and undergraduates to one of Latin America's most famous novels. Introductory essays consider the novel's massive scope and celebrate Garcia Marquez's heightened appreciation for the strange and marvelous in reality. New essays provide a valuable introduction to the work as well as a discussion of the political, social and literary contexts. Natural and human-made disasters are the focus of one group of essays, while another group discusses translation, both literal and metaphoric.