Winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature and past recipient of the Jerusalem Prize, the Frankfurt Peace Prize, and the Neustadt Prize, Octavio Paz has written one of the most enduring and powerful works ever created on Mexico and its people, character, and culture. "Essential to an underst...

Winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature and past recipient of the Jerusalem Prize, the Frankfurt Peace Prize, and the Neustadt Prize, Octavio Paz has written one of the most enduring and powerful works ever created on Mexico and its people, character, and culture. "Essential to an understanding of Mexico and, by extension, Latin America and the third world."--"The Village Voice."

Octavio Paz has written one of the most enduring and powerful works ever created on Mexico and its people, character, and culture. Compared to Ortega y Gasset's The Revolt of the Massesfor its trenchant analysis, this collection contains Octavio Paz' most famous work,The Labyrinth of Solitude , a beautifully written and deeply felt discourse on Mexico's quest for identity that gives us an unequaled look at the country hidden behind the mask. Also included are Postscript, Return to the Labyrinth of Solitude, and Mexico and the United States, all of which develop the themes of the title essay and extend his penetrating commentary to the United States and Latin America.