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Asedios a Julio Ram0n Ribeyro. By Ismael P. Marquez and Cesar Ferreira, eds. Lima: Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru. 1996. 320 pp.
The very fine Peruvian writer Julio Ramon Ribeyro died in December of 1994. Among the publications he left behind we find nine collections of short stories, three novels, a volume of plays, two books of short prose pieces, a book of literary criticism, and a personal diary. Given the substance of this body of work, the critical response to date has been relatively scant. In an effort to redress this inequity and "aumentar la difusion de la obra de este gran escritor peruano y fomentar su estudio critico" (18), Ismael Marquez and Ce sar Ferreira have edited Asedios a Julio Ramon Ribeyro, the first collection of criticism on the author.
The volume opens with an eloquent epigraph by Ribeyro-"Por que escribo"-which welcomes us into the study of his work as it concludes: "En cada lector futuro, el escritor renace" (12). This is followed by the editors' lively introduction to Ribeyro's life and principal works. Unfortunately, they do not include a comprehensive list of the author's publications, something that would have proved useful to students and scholars seeking to expand their experience of Ribeyro.
The first section of the book is comprised of an eclectic assortment of Ribeyro's writing including: an account of his ancestors from his personal diary;...