Inspired in Don Segundo Ramirez, a cattle drover Ricardo Guiraldes met personally and whose tomb lies in San Antonio de Areco, very close to the author's own, don Segundo Sombra more than a novel is a lesson on the gaucho lifestyle. Ricardo Guiraldes, a friend of Jorge Luis Borges -they both founded the legendary magazine Proa- managed to develop a simple and modern language, a high quality mixture of literacy and colourful local camp expressions that earned him a major standing among the best representatives of "criollismo." Even though it may be considered as a continuity with Martin...