'La fea burguesía' offers a brutal portrait of the so-called middle- and privileged-classes, represented by five marriages in search of success, summed up by obtaining money, and proved by the constant acquisition of goods. contempt and blindness to others' intelligence, considered an insult, since it makes one's own ignorance evident, make up the basis of a class that has risen either by attaching itself to power, or by integrating itself perfectly into the free market economy. With this novel, Miguel Espinosa gives us a brilliant critique of Franco-ist Spain, although, as with all great literature, the book's reach goes beyond the historical period it examines.