SOURCE: "The Short Stories," in Understanding José Donoso, University of South Carolina Press, 1993, pp. 14-23.

In the following excerpt, Magnarelli interprets Donoso's best known stories—" Paseo" and "Santelices"—as representative of his style and themes.

Donoso's short stories mark his earliest incursions into the literary realm. His first story in Spanish, "'China,'" was published in 1954 by Zig-Zag in Enrique Lafourcade's Antología del nuevo cuento chileno (Anthology of the New Chilean Short Story). His first volume of stories, Veraneo y otros cuentos (Summer Vacation and Other Stories), appeared in 1955 and included "Veraneo" ("Summertime"), "Tocayos" (Namesakes), "El güero" ("The 'Güero'"), "Una señora" ("A Lady"), "Fiesta en grande" (A Grand Party), "Dos cartas" (Two Letters), and "Dinamarquero" ("The Dane's Place"). This book won him the Premio Municipal in 1956. His second volume. El Charlestón ( The Charleston), included "El charlestón" ("Charleston"), "La puerta cerrada" ("The Closed...