A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
| "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Gabriel García Márquez | |
| Original title | Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes |
| Translator | Gregory Rabassa |
| Country | Colombia |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre(s) | Magic realism • fantasy |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Casa de las Américas |
| Publication type | Journal |
| Publisher | Casa de las Américas, Havana |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | 1968 |
| Published in English | 1971 |
| Series | Men |
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" (Spanish: Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes) and subtitled "A Tale for Children" is a short story by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. The tale was written in 1968 and published in the May–June 1968 (VIII, 48) issue of the journal Casa de las Américas. The work was published in English in the New American Review 13 in 1971. It appeared in the 1972 book Leaf Storm and Other Stories. The short story is introduced with a medieval rhetorical question: How many angels can fit on the head of a pin? It involves the eponymous character who appears in a family's backyard on a stormy night. What follows are the reactions of the family, a town, and outside visitors. This story falls within the genre of magic realism.