Gabriel Zaid is a Mexican writer, poet and intellectual.
He was born in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, in 1934. He studied Engineering at the Tecnológico de Monterrey.
He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Vuelta magazine from 1976 to 1992.. He has been a member of El Colegio Nacional since September 26, 1984. He has been a member of the Mexican Academy of Language since 1986. He has distinguished himself for never appearing in public...not even his picture has been taken. This springs from a strongly held opinion that a writer should be known by his work, not his real life personality. His essays have been very influential on a vast array of topics, most significantly poetry, economics, and criticism of the literary establishment.
Fábula de Narciso y Ariadna (Fable of Narciso and Ariadna) (1958);
Seguimiento (Following) (1964);
Campo nudista (Nudist Camp) (1969);
Lina (1972);
Práctica mortal (Deadly Practice) (1973);
Cuestionario (Questionnaire) (1976);
Canciones de Vidyapati (Songs of Vidyapati) (1978);
Cómo leer en bicicleta (How to Read on a Bicycle) (1975);
Problemas de una cultura matriotera (Problems of a Mother-Idolizing Culture) (1982);
Imprenta y vida pública de Daniel Cosío Villegas (Printing House and Public Life of Daniel Cosío Villegas) (1985);
¿Adivinos o libreros? (Fortune Tellers or Book Store Owners) (1986);
De los libros al poder (From Books to Power) (1988);
Legítima defensa de la exención autoral que hacen numerosos autores mexicanos con buenas razones y ejemplos desde los tiempos prehispánicos (Legitimate Defense of the Author Exemption made by several Mexican Authors with Good Reasons and Examples since Pre-Hispanic Times) (1993).
Los demasiados libros (So Many Books) (1996); English translation 2003 (Paul Dry Books, Philadelphia).