''This collection exquisitely and relentlessly exposes the indiscriminating pain and deformation that result in civilizations that are built on race and class degradation.'' -Jesse Larsen, from 500 Great Books by Women. Ciudad Real earned the author the Premio Xavier Villaurrutia in 1961. ''A subtle paradox inhabits these unrelenting stories???She manages her exposure of the racist underpinnings of society brilliantly; more than 30 years after these stories were written, the inhumanity they portray continues to chill the soul.'' ???Publishers Weekly