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Although known by this abbreviated title, the true title of this work, much longer, perfectly summarizes the story: The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor Who Drifted for Ten Days on a Raft Without Food or Drink, Was Proclaimed a Hero of the Homeland, Kissed by Beauty Queens, and Made Rich by Advertising, and Then Abhorred by the Government and Forgotten Forever. Published in installments in El Espectador of Bogotá in 1955 and later in book form (in 1970), it is not a novel, but a journalistic report that recounts a real event. With impeccable literary technique and professional journalistic style, García Márquez recounts an event that happened to a Colombian Navy sailor named Luis Alejandro Velasco. The story, meticulously reconstructed by the South American writer in fourteen interviews, is exciting and moving.