Four of Onetti's short stories - "Bienvenido, Bob", "Esbjerg en la Costa", "El Infierno tan Temido" and "La Cara de la Desgracia" - are brought together in this collection, edited by Peter Turton. In them, the student of contemporary Latin American literature can encounter Onetti's recurring themes: the need to escape the absurdity of routine existence (an escape which always fails and plunges his protagonists even further into their own personal quagmire); the basic misunderstandings inherent in all human relationships, especially those between the sexes; and the fear of ageing, decay and, ultimately, death. As with all the titles in the "Hispanic Texts" series, the text is supplemented by an introduction and notes in English, a selected vocabulary and a section containing questions for further discussion.