Fiction. Latino/a Studies. Clara is a free-spirited young woman, a prostitute in Buenos Aires. She is full of vague plans and dreams, and tries to shield herself from an ominous world. Mixing social commentary with tender humor, the novel's lively spontaneity captures a certain segment of humanity in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the turbulent 1950's. This crisp translation of the first major novel of Argentine writer Valenzuela...is raw, sensuous and stylish as a tango...Valenzuela here chronicles the bizarre, brutal existence of characters on the fringes, building to a hair-raising climax: [A] harsh, provoking, yet graceful tale of exploitation. --Publishers Weekly. Translated by Andrea Labinger.