Anonymously published in 1554, Lazarillo de Tormes remains a centerpiece of Renaissance literature and arguably the most popular example of the picaresque novel. This Norton Critical Edition is based on Ilan Stavans’ new translation, which accurately captures the verve of the original. The Norton Critical Edition also includes: An introduction and explanatory annotations by Ilan Stavans. Contextual materials highlighting the novella’s strong anticlerical views and its affinities with Don Quixote in depictions of social hierarchy in Renaissance Spain, as well as excerpts from Juan de Luna’s Lazarillo sequel. Eight critical studies, by David Gitlitz, Jane W. Albrecht, Louis C. Pérez, Edward H. Friedman, Howard Mancing, T. Anthony Perry, Gabriel H. Lovett, and E. Herman Hespelt. A Selected Bibliography.

Anonymously published in 1554, Lazarillo de Tormes remains a centerpiece of Renaissance literature and arguably the most popular example of the picaresque novel. This Norton Critical Edition is based on Ilan Stavans’ new translation, which accurately captures the verve of the original. The Norton Critical Edition also includes: An introduction and explanatory annotations by Ilan Stavans. Contextual materials highlighting the novella’s strong anticlerical views and its affinities with Don Quixote in depictions of social hierarchy in Renaissance Spain, as well as excerpts from Juan de Luna’s Lazarillo sequel. Eight critical studies, by David Gitlitz, Jane W. Albrecht, Louis C. Pérez, Edward H. Friedman, Howard Mancing, T. Anthony Perry, Gabriel H. Lovett, and E. Herman Hespelt. A Selected Bibliography.

"This is the first graphic novel adaptation of Lazarillo de Tormes, an anonymous sixteenth-century work that is credited with founding the literary genre of the picaresque novel. This genre includes not only works by Spanish authors like Miguel de Cervantes but also famous novels in English and American literature featuring the "anti-hero." This edition offers a new approach to old questions about a book that has puzzled readers and critics alike for centuries. Who was its mysterious author? Why did the Inquisition forbid this seemingly harmless book? Who read the book and how was it understood? These and other questions are recreated in the graphic novel, offering a broader vision of the fortunes and adversities that this book "lived" and how against all odds it became a literary classic. Translated and retold for the modern reader, Lazarillo de Tormes offers a complete visual experience of the adventures and misadventures of the ultimate picaresque anti-hero as well as insights into the history of the book that set a precedent in Spanish literature."--

Wicks has made a number of important contributions to the study of the picaresque. . . . Wicks's book does not attempt to answer all questions posed by the term, but it provides the most comprehensive view to date on the issues in the picaresque debate. The first third of the book deals with a consideration of the picaresque as a genre, the role of the picaresque in literary scholarship, the value of a modal approach, and the nature of picaresque narrative. The difficulties raised in the chapter on the picaresque mode, for example, indicate how this approach, despite its flaws, can illuminate texts and contribute to the critical process. The remainder of the book includes brief but perceptive analyses of more than 60 picaresque works, from Alonso, mozo de muchos amos to the Woody Allen film, Zelig. The metacritical thrust and the extensive bibliography make this a true `theory and research guide.' A must for public and academic libraries. Choice Picaresque fiction, according to Wicks, is neither a historical episode in the development of the novel nor merely a phenomenon in the social and literary history of Spain, although both are important manifestations of this essential narrative form. It is, he contends, universal narrative structure and theme. His book describes and defines picaresque narrative with careful attention paid to its historical development as a genre and its persistent appeal as an archetypal narrative structure. Beginning with a definition and discussion of the basic picaresque narrative structure and theme, Part I considers the origins and development of a specific type of picaresque narrative in sixteenth and seventeenth century Spain--the picaresque novel. This is followed by a history of the term and its various interpretations by critics over the years. He then proposes a genre-construct of picaresque narrative, followed by an extensive bibliography of critical works. Part II explores the usefulness of generic awareness in the act of reading by describing sixty specific works of fiction which collectively illustrate the full narrative spectrum of the picaresque mode.