José Rodrigues Miguéis is an important figure in twentieth-century Portuguese literary history mainly because of his contributions to the novel and short-story genres. His work is noted for his use of irony and humor, minute attention to details, interior monologues, and sharp analyses of a character's psychology. While some of his novels and short stories are imbued with an autobiographical impulse, inspired by his experiences abroad in Belgium and the United States, these writings also reflect his enthusiasm with the Republican movement in Portugal and his frustration when it was replaced by dictator António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo (New State) and fascist propaganda in the 1930s. Miguéis's writings have been widely acclaimed because he capitalized on his self-imposed exile and successfully explored the problems and feelings of the immigrant. Miguéis's acute perception in those stories of immigrants torn...