Besides the first edition of 1934, Huasipungo went through two more editions or complete rewritings in Spanish, 1934, 1953, 1960, the first of which was difficult for even natives of other Hispanic countries to read and the last the definitive version. Jorge Icaza and Huasipungo are often compared to John Steinbeck and his Grapes of Wrath from 1939, as both are works of social protest. Although the latter two books are recognized as Icaza's greatest literary achievements by experts (such as Theodore Alan Sackett), Huasipungo continues to be his most popular book and has been translated to over 40 languages. His other books include Sierra (1933), En las calles (1936), Cholos (1938), Media vida deslumbrados (1942), Huayrapamushcas (1948), Seis relatos (1952), El chulla Romero y Flores (1958), and Atrapados (1973). Dulsey, and was published in 1964 by Southern Illinois University Press in Carbondale, IL as 'The Villagers'. An 'authorized' translation appeared in 1964 by Bernard H. The first complete edition of Huasipungo was translated into English in 1962 by Mervyn Savill and published in England by Dennis Dobson Ltd. Jorge Icaza was later appointed Ecuador's ambassador to Russia. Fragments of the book first appeared in English translation in Russia, where it was welcomed enthusiastically by Russia's peasant socialist class.

The book became a well-known 'Indigenist' novel, a movement in Latin American literature that aspired to realism in its depiction of the mistreatment of the indigenous.

With the publication of Huasipungo in 1934, Icaza achieved international fame. After his 1933 playscript, El Dictador, was censured, Icaza turned his attention to writing novels about the social conditions in Ecuador, particularly the oppression suffered by its indigenous people. His plays include El Intruso in 1928, La Comedia sin Nombre in 1929, Cuál es in 1931, Sin Sentido in 1932, and Flagelo, which was published in 1936. Jorge Icaza's literary career began as a playwright. He was born in Quito in 1906 and died of cancer in the same city in 1978. Jorge Icaza Coronel (J– May 26, 1978), commonly referred to as Jorge Icaza, was a writer from Ecuador, best known for his novel Huasipungo, which brought attention to the exploitation of Ecuador's indigenous people by Ecuadorian whites. Huasipungo (1934), El chulla Romero y Flores (1958)

Huasipungo by Jorge Icaza