From Publishers Weekly
If Los de abajo , long considered one of the masterpieces of revolutionary literature in Mexico, has not received wide recognition north of the border, it is not for lack of trying. This is its fourth translation into English. Azuela himself described the book as "a series of sketches and scenes of the constitutionalist revolution," at the center of which is Demetrio Macias, an Indian farmer who, following a petty fight with the local boss, became a bandit--which in 1913-1916 was basically the same thing as a revolutionary. His heroism must be read in the context of fellow rebels, like Luis Cervantes, the sometime journalist who spouts heroic claptrap between bouts of cowardice and avarice, or the brutal and crude Margarito. Unlike Azuela, who was a medical officer with Pancho Villa's forces, Macias does not know for whom or what he is fighting and is eventually trapped. Fornoff has wisely avoided translating the quickly outmoded Spanish slang into equally transient English; rather, he leaves Azuela's spare, lucid prose to tell its own story of the tyranny of revolution. This volume in the Pittsburgh Editions of Latin American Literature also includes scholarly essays by Carlos Fuentes, Seymour Menton and Jorge Ruffinelli. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Azuela was one of several well-known Latin American writers, among them Martin Luis Guzman, Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes, and Rafael Munoz, who worked in the genre known as the "novel of the Mexican Revolution." Although Azuela (1873-1952) wrote Los de Abajo ( The Underdogs ) in 1915, it didn't begin to have a following until almost a decade later. Azuela received the Prize in Letters from the Mexican National Society for the Arts and Sciences in 1940 and remained Mexico's foremost novelist until his death. The novel chronicles the conflict between the revolutionaries and the federales (government troops), focusing on war and its effect on the people. This translation, accompanied by critical essays, is the first volume in a series that promises to introduce authoritative new English editions of classic works. Recommended for libraries that purchase Latin American literature.- Peggie Partello, Keene State Coll., N.H.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
?Mariano Azuela, more than any other novelist of the Mexican Revolution, lifts the heavy stone of history to see what there is underneath it.??Carlos Fuentes





Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish


Download Description
The news spread like lightning. Villa--the magic word! The Great Man, the salient profile, the unconquerable warrior who, even at a distance, exerts the fascination of a reptile, a boa constrictor.


From the Publisher
Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Arguedas, Deep Rivers (ISBN 157766244X); Arguedas, Yawar Fiesta (ISBN 1577662458); Asturias, The President (ISBN 0881339512); and Azuela, Los de Abajo: Novela de la Revolucion Mexicana (ISBN 0881336629).

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Hailed as the greatest novel of the Mexican Revolution, The Underdogs recounts the story of an illiterate but charismatic Indian peasant farmer’s part in the rebellion against Porfirio Díaz, and his subsequent loss of belief in the cause when the revolutionary alliance becomes factionalized. Azuela’s masterpiece is a timeless, authentic portrayal of peasant life, revolutionary zeal, and political disillusionment.

Author Biography: Beth E. Jörgensen is an associate professor of Spanish at the University of Rochester. She is the author of The Writings of Elena Poniatowska: Engaging Dialogues, and articles on Poniatowska, Margo Glantz, and Benita Galeana.
Ilán Stavans is a professor of Spanish at Amherst College and the author of On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language and The Hispanic Condition, as well as the editor of The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories. He has been a National Book Critics Circle Award nominee and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

First published in 1915, Azuela's groundbreaking novel about a Mexican peasant who becomes a revolutionary leader is now being issued in a revised translation with a set of illuminating footnotes (notes and revisions by Beth E. Jurgensen). Demetrio Macias is the protagonist who joins the rebels in their efforts to overthrow Mexico's corrupt dictator, Porfirio Diaz, and Macias's brash approach to military tactics speeds his rise through the ranks. His background is articulated by journalist Luis Cervantes, who abandons the government to aid the rebels as he provides background on Macias in the early chapters. While the new general's forces engage in a series of hit-and-run battles with Federal troops, Azuela adds two romantic subplots, one about a difficult young woman named Pintada, who bonds with one of the other generals in the company; the other involves Camilla, a peasant girl who expresses her ardor for Cervantes early on, but ends up falling for Macias. The battle scenes are stirring, if somewhat underdeveloped, and Azuela highlights the conflict with a cameo appearance by Pancho Villa as the tide begins to turn against the rebels. Overall, the story is too incomplete to be labeled a classic by modern standards. What makes the book memorable is its portrayal of Macias as an archetype of Mexico's national character, as the peasant expresses his ongoing love for the process and pageantry of the revolution. The translation feels awkward, but Jurgensen's footnotes and the introduction (by Ilan Stavans) add colorful details and definitions while filling in some narrative and historical gaps. (Sept.)

"First in this country, the Underdogs should always have a special place, for it describes the aspirations of a native people. At the college level, Fornosx's text offers plenty of material for the Historian and the Professor of Internatonal Literature. But the book can also be enjoyed at a simpler level. It is essentially a compelling tale of human conflicts, grippingly told." -- Studies In Short Fiction

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