MASTERWORKS OF LATIN AMERICAN SHORT FICTION
Eight Novellas
edited by Jr. Canfield
Masterworks Of Latin American Short Fiction ($25.00; Oct. 1996; 400 pp.; 0-06-431502-9): A wonderful gathering of eight novellas, prefaced by a lengthy and knowledgeable introduction by Ilan Stavans, including rarely seen fiction from several of the greatest (and most neglected) modern and contemporary Latin American masters. Only Gabriel Garc°a M†rquez's deliciously fantastic ``The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother'' is at all familiar—and readers who appreciate his trademark magical realism will find brilliant variations on it in such memorable tales as Joo Guimares Rosa's ``My Uncle, the Jaguar'' (set in the Brazilian ``backlands'' immortalized in his novels and stories), Julio Cortazar's quicksilver portrayal of a jazz musician seemingly based on the figure of Charlie Parker (``The Pursuer''), and Felisberto Hernandez's ``The Daisy Dolls,'' a gothic surrealist fantasy reminiscent (and very nearly worthy) of Kafka. An invaluable anthology.