SOURCE: "Writing from the Gut," in Washington Post, April 8, 1993, p. D1.

[In the following article, Streitfield provides a brief commentary on Donoso's life, specifically focusing on the lies he told as a youngster about stomach problems, and his real ulcer later in life.]

When José Donoso was a boy, back in his native Chile almost six decades ago, he hated school. So the clever lad invented an ache in his gut.

For a time, the malady did its job; Donoso didn't have to eat with the rest of his classmates or participate in sports. But there came a day when faking wasn't necessary. It was real, all right, this sharp spasm in his belly.

Maybe early on it was psychosomatic. Yet as the decades passed, the ulcer became genuine. Finally, during a lecture in Colorado in 1969, Donoso had a hemorrhage and nearly died. He left the hospital with...