Since its publication in 1554, Lazarillo de Tormes has continued to fascinate and confuse its readers: is it an autobiography or the product of a creative mind, thus, a work of fiction? Is the author really anonymous? Was a new genre created with Lazarillo, or is it a mere precursor? This novella is read, studied, and taught as a canonic work of the picaresque although some scholars ascertain that the genre was born five years later with Mateo Aleman"s Guzman de Alfarache. By using a postmodern looking glass it may become possible to calibrate much of what has been said about Lazarillo de Tormes. The awareness of the historical moment can make the reader come to the realization that Lazarillo speaks openly about an unfortunate if not despicable reality fraught with famine and abandonment in a society ruled by prejudice and persecution in the name of God, the Monarch, and the Church. Four editions were published in 1554 (Alcala, Amberes, Burgos y Medina del Campo), yet the...