Lazarillo soon proves himself to be resourceful and resistant to the corrupt clergymen he must serve. Young Lazarillo is an improbable hero of his time, for he comes from a poor and multiracial family who desperately apprentice him to a blind beggar after committing a crime. Scholars now attribute the authorship to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. This Spanish novella was first published in 1554, during the Spanish Inquisition, by an author who wished to remain anonymous due to the work's heretical content. An important work of Spain's Golden Age of literature as well as the first known picaresque novel, 'The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities' portrays the clever ploys of a young Salamancan boy determined to outsmart his long string of masters.
