Some three years before La región más transparente would appear in the bookstores of Mexico City, fragments of the novel were beginning to be published in local newspapers and maga zines. Some of the selections show only moderate stylistic changes from the 1958 version, but others contain major changes in characters and plots. These fragments furnish a most fascinating insight into the evolution of the novel before it reached its fi- nal form.

The earliest of the four known fragments was published in the March 28, 1955 issue of Revista de la Universidad de México. It is three pages long and carries the title "Los restos." The novel version in smaller format has a length of nine pages and is titled "Los de Ovando." Essentially they are of identical length with most of the changes consisting of stylistic polishing. All of the same characters...