José Luis González (March 8, 1926 – December 8, 1996) was a Puerto Rican essayist, novelist, short story writer, university professor, and journalist who lived most of his life in exile in Mexico due to his pro-independence political views. He is considered to be one of the most important Puerto Rican authors of the 20th century, particularly for his book Puerto Rico: The Four-Storeyed Country and Other Essays, which was first published in Spanish in 1980. Biography José Luis González was born in the Dominican Republic, the son of a Puerto Rican father and Dominican mother. His family left the country and moved to Puerto Rico after the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo assumed power in 1930. González was raised in Puerto Rico and went on to obtain a Bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. He also studied in the United States, and received a master's degree and Doctorate in Philosophy and Letters at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. A renowned Marxist, González always considered himself to be a Puerto Rican, but lived in Mexico from 1953 until his death in 1996 and obtained Mexican citizenship in 1955, renouncing his American citizenship to do so. He lectured at the UNAM on Latin American literature and on the sociology of literature. He also worked as a newspaper correspondent in Prague, Berlin, Paris and Warsaw during his lifetime. Awards José Luis González was awarded the Xavier Villaurrutia award in 1978 for his novel Ballad of Another Time, and also received two national awards in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: The Four-Storeyed Country José Luis González published the original Spanish essay "El País De Cuatro Pisos" within a collection of seven essays in 1980 under the Edition stamp Hurricane, Inc. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The English translation, Puerto Rico: The Four-Storeyed Country was published on April 1, 1990 by Waterfront Press.The book consists of seven essays, all varying in length and focus. José Luis González wrote The Four-Storeyed Country in response to a conversation of Puerto Ricans and their relationship with independence. Additionally, The Four Storeyed Country was also written to answer the question posed by one of his students in 1979 during one of his Latin American Studies seminars, "How do you think the Puerto Rican culture has been affected by the North American colonial intervention and how do you see it?" José Luis