Michael Scham is an associate professor of Spanish at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota.

‘The range and depth of the study are admirable. The approach is scholarly and distinctive with some surprising and effective juxtapositions – and the treatment of the topic is, appropriately entertaining. Highly recommended.’- E.H. Friedman (Choice Magazine vol 52:06:2015) ‘Scham’s book is a fascinating and scholarly analysis of games and play in Cervantes and an excellent accounting of his place in wider European context.’- Harry Sieber (Renaissance Quarterly vol 68:04:2014) ‘I endorse Scham’s book as a fine contribution to Cervantes studies.’- Eduardo Olid Guerrero (Modern Philology vol 113:04:2016)

• AcknowledgmentsList of IllustrationsIntroduction1. Leisure and Recreation in Early Modern Spain Theoretical ContextsPrerational and Rational Play in the Epic, the Picaresque, and the QuixoticThe Space and Function of EutrapeliaCristÓbal MÉndez, Rodrigo Caro, Fray Alonso Remon: Therapeutic ExerciseHuman Divinity and Depravity: Vives, Erasmus, MontaignePlay types in Golden Age SpainChessGames of ChancePhysical activity and competitionMimesisIlinxRegulating play in the Indias2. Solitary, Collaborative and Complicit Play in Don Quijote Cervantes and the Ambivalent Freedom of PlayPlayers and Games in Don QuijotePlay and Laughter in Don QuijoteLaughing At, Laughing WithComic Doubt and Delusion in Don QuijoteLudic Scepticism in Don Quijote II3. The Novelas ejemplares: Ocio, Exemplarity, and Community Agonistic and Restrictive Play in El licenciado VidrieraThe Agonistic Intellect: Cruel Comedy and Vidriera’s Humourless VisionThe Picaresque and Play in El coloquio de los perrosPlay and the Liminal Underworld ExperienceDialogue and the Digressive Quest for Meaning in El coloquio de los perrosPlay and the Exemplarity of ProcessPicaresque Freedom and Festive PlayThe Festive Mode of the PicaresqueMonipodio’s Criminal and Ludic Community in Rinconete y CortadilloDistance, Morality, and the Allure of the Aesthetic ExperienceGeneric Interplay in La ilustre fregonaInterrogation and Validation of the Fictional WorldConclusionNotesBibliography