In Sin Rumbo (1885), the Argentine novelist Eugenio Cambaceres (1843-1889) offers a graphic portrait of the decadence of the Argentine upper class at the end of the Nineteenth Century, as seen through the useless, debauched and violent life of the work"s protagonist, the wealthy young estanciero, Andres. Detailed and vivid, following the precepts of the naturalist school founded by the French author, Emile Zola, Cambaceres defines with literary uniqueness -especially for nineteenth century Latin American literary circles and society in general- the lack of "bearings" of the ruling oligarchy in Argentina and the desastrous effects of this lack of direction on the nation"s progress. Given the work"s particular aesthetic sense and its penchance for social criticism, this novel became -and remains- a standard-bearer for social change and artistic vision in Latin American letters which should be considered for any course which highlights fin-de-siecle nineteenth century Hispanic American...