In part 1, "Materials,” the editors discuss versions and translations of the novel, provide readings and resources, give an overview of the historical and political background of 1970s Argentina, and outline the author's biography. The thirteen essays in part 2, "Approaches,” written by distinguished scholars of Latin American literature, offer close textual analysis, examine the author's use of cinematic references, and present suggestions for teaching Héctor Babenco's film adaptation alongside the written text.

Daniel Balderston is professor of Spanish at the University of Iowa. Recent books include Borges, realidades y simulcros (2000) and El deseo, enorme cicatriz luminosa: Ensayos sobre homosexualidades latinoamericanas (2002), and the Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 (2004). He is president of the Instituto Internacional de Literature Iberoamericana. Francine Masiello is Sidney and Margaret Ancker Professor in the Humanities and teaches Spanish and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Lenguaje e ideología: Las escuelas argentinas de vanguardia (1986), Between Civilization and Barbarism: Women, Nation, and Culture in Modern Argentina (1992), La mujer el espacio público: El periodismo femenino en la Argentina del siglo XIX (1994), and The Art of Transition: Latin American Literature and Neoliberal Crisis (2001).