No mention here of the possible influence Oprah had on the decision. I mean, if you’ve had such a cool-sounding name as “Gabriel Garcia Marquez” reduced to “Gabo” (a name that sounds suspiciously like a lost Marx brother drier than Zeppo), wouldn’t you, fearing further bastardizations of your name, be hesitant to write more books too?
© 2006, Edward Champion. All rights reserved.
Actually, the nickname “Gabo” comes from his first two names, Gabriel José. It’s common practice that a boy’s first two names become the nickname (e.g. Juanes = Juan Esteban).