Dangerous virtues =

Ana Maria Moix is one of the most innovative and entertaining writers in Spain today. Her writings include children's literature, poetry, novels, and short stories; her work has been praised throughout Europe and the Americas for its stylistic innovations, witty, satiric spirit, and feminist themes and fervor. The five stories collected in Dangerous Virtues (Las virtudes peligrosas), varying greatly in style and substance, are among Moix's most remarkable writings. The title story is a mesmerizing account of the relationship between two beautiful women who communicate only by staring at each other. "Once upon a Time" is an ironical exploration of the unhappy lives of characters from fairy tales and children's rhymes. "The Naive Man" tracks an insufferable young man's downward spiral into drunkenness. Other stories in the collection include "The Problem," a comic tour de force about the troubled sexual relations of a bickering married couple, and "The Dead," the chilling self-analysis of a young wife whose thoughts reveal her weakening grasp of everyday reality.