It is indeed curious that Goytisolo begins [La chanca] his first-person account of a visit to Almería by asserting that Spaniards cannot stand an absence from their country very well. Goytisolo had already been living in voluntary exile for some years when the first edition of this novel appeared in Paris in 1962. Of course, especially since Señas de identidad (1966) to Makbara (1980 …) his works have dealt with the ravages of exile on the soul of the exiled. Thus Goytisolo has made common cause through the ages with the likes of Blanco White, Cernuda, Américo Castro and many others, all sharing a deeply felt love-hate relationship toward Mother Spain. They have been forced to leave Spain by the "other" Spain, and they have reflected and written painfully and poignantly from the perspective of "their" Spain. There is little doubt that this attempted dialogue has enriched the cultural...