Author of the classic novella
El sombrero de tres picos (1944), a graceful, humorous picaresque
story. Liberal and anti-clerical, Alarcón was the notorious chief
editor of the periodical El Látigo (The Whip). Wrote numerous novels,
short stories, poetry and drama, but remained famous for abovementioned
novella and the novel
El escándalo (1943). Manuel de Falla made El Sombrero... into
a famous ballet.