| Tuesday, August 2, 2005 |
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| Novelist Isabel Allende |
SpotlightHappy birthday to Chilean writer Isabel Allende, who turns 63 today. She wrote her best-known novel, The House of Spirits, in 1982, based on the political upheavals in Chile. It is thought that her father's cousin, Salvador Allende, was the model for the role of The Candidate or The President in the roman à clef. The book evolved from a letter that Isabel Allende wrote to her dying grandfather. It was later made into a movie starring Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep.
Today in History
- JFK: the torpedo boat he commanded was sunk by a Japanese destroyer; he rescued crew members (1943)
- Führer: Adolf Hitler became absolute dictator of Germany; Third Reich began (1934)
- Kuwait: invaded by Iraq, Persian Gulf War began (1990)
Today's Birthdays
- Pierre-Charles L'Enfant: designer of Washington, DC (1754-1825)
- actors: Carroll O'Connor (1924-2001), Peter O'Toole (73)
- James Baldwin: writer, social critic (1924-1987)
Word of the Daymagic realism: a mostly Latin American literary style in which realistic events and descriptions mingle with imaginary, fantastic elements; Allende uses magic realism in her novel, The House of Spirits.
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