Earlier versions of some material contained in this study were published in Romance Notes (vol 54.1), Hispanic Journal (vol 41.1), Letras hispanas (vol 7.1), and Ciberletras (vol 41). Grateful acknowledgement is due to the copyright holders for permission to republish this material. Thanks is owed as well to Beth Bentley for invaluable assistance in editing the manuscript. A word on translations: for the sake of non-Spanish speaking readers, I have translated all original Spanish sources into English. All translations are mine. The references to these translated quotes refer to the original Spanish sources. Only in the case of the actual novels do I show the original Spanish text, which I follow with an English translation. In most cases the translations are drawn from published English-language versions of the works. Translators names may be found in the bibliography. As of yet no English-language translation exists for the following: Lo real (Belén Gopeguí), Imaginación de Guatemala (Rodrigo Rey Rosas), and Paniceiros (Xuan Bello). The translations of passages from those works are mine.