Lazarillo de Tormes

Lazarillo de Tormes

Title page of the 1554 edition
Author	anonymous
Original title	La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Genre	Picaresque
Publication date	1554
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)

The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities (Spanish: La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades [la ˈβiða ðe laθaˈɾiʎo ðe ˈtormes i ðe sus forˈtunas i aðβersiˈðaðes]) is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its heretical content. It was published simultaneously in three cities in 1554: Alcalá de Henares, Burgos and Antwerp. The Alcalá de Henares edition adds some episodes which were probably written by a second author.

Lázaro is a boy of humble origins from Salamanca. After his stepfather is accused of thievery, his mother asks a wily blind beggar to take Lazarillo (little Lázaro) on as his apprentice. Lázaro develops his cunning while serving the blind beggar and several other masters, while also learning to take on his father's practice.

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Besides its importance in the Spanish literature of the Golden Age, Lazarillo de Tormes is credited with founding a literary genre, the picaresque novel, from the Spanish word pícaro, meaning "rogue" or "rascal". In novels of this type, the adventures of the pícaro expose injustice while amusing the reader. This extensive genre includes Cervantes' Rinconete y Cortadillo and El coloquio de los perros, Henry Fielding's Tom Jones and Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Its influence extends to twentieth century novels, dramas and films featuring the "anti-hero".