This volume takes as its point of departure the communicative process between author and reader in
Muertes de perro
and its sequel,
El fondo del vaso
, by Francisco Ayala, thereby allowing for a deeper understanding of the rhetorical processes involved in the author's well-studied use of multiple perspective and irony. Maryellen Bieder's study, beautifully crafted and concise in its definition of scope and purpose, gives a highly articulate analysis of Ayala's novelistic art and demonstrates the distortions of self and emotional distancing that allow for the brilliant function and fallibility of his novelistic narrators. Demonstrating impressive control of narrative theory and sound critical judgment, this volume is an invaluable contribution to the study of this last representative of the Generation of '27.