The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories by Carlos Fuentes, Julio Ortega (Editor)

From the Publisher

In The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories, Julio Ortega and Carlos Fuentes present the most compelling short fiction from Mexico to Chile. Surreal, poetic, naturalistic, urbane, peasant-born: All styles intersect and play, often within a single piece. There is "The Handsomest Drown Man in the World," the García Márquez fable of a village overcome by the power of human beauty; "The Aleph," Borges' classic tale of a man who discovers, in a colleague's cellar, the Universe. Here is the haunting shades of Juan Rulfo, the astonishing anxiety puzzles of Julio Cortázar, the disquieted domesticity of Clarice Lispector. Provocative, powerful, immensely engaging, The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories showcases the ingenuity, diversity, and continuing excellence of a vast and vivid literary tradition.

Library Journal

From the legendary Jorge Luis Borges and the unique Filisberto Hern ndez to such contemporaries as Angeles Mastretta, Rodrigo Fres n, Antonio L pez Ortega, and Gabriel Garc a M rquez, Latin American short story writers have developed a style without limits, defying categorization or a neatly defined history. With these 39 selections (all previously published and all by different authors), editors Fuentes (The Years with Laura D az) and Ortega (Hispanic studies, Brown Univ.) offer a collection dating from the 1950s to the present. The authors, from 11 Latin American nations (Mexico is represented by 11), include 28 who are living and six women. Their work is at times powerful, engaging, and unsettling, and all are examples of a literary tradition unbound by nation, ethnicity, gender, or generation. Most of the contributors work in other genres, so this volume will introduce many of them as short story authors. Recommended for all collections with an emphasis on Latin America or contemporary literature.--Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., AL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A solid collection of 39 stories covering an approximate half-century's worth of fiction variously illustrative of the conflicting principles (cited in Fuentes's prefatory essay"The Storyteller") of"immediate effect" espoused by Argentinean Julio Cortázar and"interrelated narrative constellations" as practiced by his countryman Jorge Luis Borges. These great exemplars, Gabriel García Márquez, and João Guimarães Rosa are all represented by often-anthologized tales—but there are numerous choice surprises here (including the Dostoevskyan"Hell Most feared," by Uruguay's underrated Juan Carlos Onetti, Argentinean Nelida Pinon's hair-raising"House of Passion," and—an interesting closing story—Mexican Pablo Soler Frost's parabolic, and quite Borgesian,"Clamour"). There are relatively few overtly political stories (Colombian Policarpo Varon's"The Feast" is notable); in fact, many of the best pieces here offer imaginative treatments of familiar family conflicts (especially Brazilian Moacyr Scliar's terse, brilliant"Van Gogh's Ear" and Mexican Sergio Pitol's richly imagined"Bukhara Nocturne"). Oddly, there's nothing from such modern masters as Mario Benedetti and Augusto Monterroso—not to mention Mario Vargas llosa, and Carlos Fuentes himself. Still, a very satisfying selection—and, at $14, a tremendous bargain.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents