SOURCE: A review of Burnt Water, in The New York Times Book Review, Vol. LXXXV, No. 42, October 19, 1980, pp. 9, 34, 36.

Connell is an American novelist and author of short stories and nonfiction whose books include the novels Mrs. Bridge (1959) and Mr. Bridge (1969), as well as the collected short story volume St. Augustine's Pigeon (1980). In the following review of Burnt Water, he praises Fuentes for his ability to fully describe the destitution of the working class near Mexico City, though he finds certain stories in the collection to be less successful than others.

Reading these 11 stories is somewhat like watching people on a carousel—individuals you won't see again. Urchins, landlords, working men, whores, servants, cripples, spinsters, revolutionaries, decadent gentry—all come whirling past and swiftly disappear. Two or three or four return long enough to be recognized, then almost at once they curl out of sight.

What remains after you...