Ana Castillo is, according to Elsa Saeta writing in Melus, "One of the most articulate, powerful voices in contemporary Chicana literature," a poet, essayist, editor, and novelist whose "work has long questioned, subverted, and challenged the status quo." Writing in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Ibis Gomez-Vega commented that Castillo is "one of a few Mexican American writers who have attracted the attention of the mainstream reading public." Gomez-Vega further noted: "From her earliest writing [Castillo] has tried to unite those segments of the American population often separated by class, economics, gender, and sexual orientation. Her success is a tribute to her self-discipline, her courage, and her considerable literary ability."

In her writing, Castillo explores the tribulations of womanhood, offering pungent socio-political comment as she does so. The style of her work is based on established oral and literary traditions, yet at the same time it is highly innovative...