5. "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I'm not quite sure how to react to Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez--a man who, as he unabashedly recounts in his memoir Living to Tell the Tale, has plenty of his own encounters with whores from which to draw material.

The novel opens with the unnamed protagonist deciding to celebrate his ninetieth birthday with a virgin. He accordingly calls a madam he knows from his years of carousing--he tells us, in fact, that every sexual encounter he's had has entailed financial transactions--and asks her to find him a virgin. She obliges with a girl who's barely fourteen and who requires such strong sedation that by the time her amorous suitor arrives, the girl is sound asleep.

He decides not to awaken her and instead contemplates her sleeping form, recalling some of his past encounters and developing the seeds of what will grow into a rich and fulfilling fantasy life revolving around this girl. Enchanted by her unknown qualities, he spends night after night with her, paying to watch her sleep. He begins to teach her to read, purchases some things for her, and certainly saves her from a harsh baptism into the world of prostitution, but at the same time there's something inherently selfish about his love. He even gives her a name from his fantasies and refuses to learn her real name. He doesn't want to know her awake or to hear her speak; instead, he reads to her as she sleeps, analyzing every nuance of her breathing.

The narrator contributes a weekly column to a newspaper, despite periodic efforts to force his retirement. His writing, which he describes as mediocre, takes on passion and intensity as he spends more time loving, fantasizing, and experiencing both real and imagined loss. The columns grow in popularity, and readers flood the newspaper office with missives about love.

As a counterpoint to the narrator's worship of his virginal muse is his relationship with the madam who procured her, a longtime acquaintance of his. Their interactions range from contentious to surprisingly tender, and the novel resolves itself with a surprising menage a trois (and not in a sexual sense).

There's also a cat, a rescued Angora given to him by coworkers at the newspaper for his ninetieth birthday. The cat's presence, sometimes too physical and pungent, sometimes fleeting and ghostly, reflects the progress of the narrator's love affair with his sleeping girl.