An expert on the short story, Mexican-born Zavala has compiled several anthologies exploring the relationship between short stories and the city (La ciudad escrita [The Written City], Solar, 2000) and other postmodern elements in the genre. This slender volume contains 23 short stories published in Mexico between 1967 and 2000, all linked by their postmodern style and themes. The anthology opens with one of the masters of the genre, Guatemalan-born Augusto Monterroso, and closes with the work of another brilliant spinner of tales, Subcomandante Marcos. In between are pieces marked by humor and intertextual references, like the nod to Juan Rulfo in Rafael P rez Gay's "Nos han dado Cadereyta" ("They've Given Us Cadereyta"), which concerns a couple who move into the abandoned family home only to discover that it challenges their sanity and survival instincts at every turn. In general, Zavala's smart selections allude to, exaggerate, or mock everything from Mexican politics to psychoanalysis. Most of the stories are highly readable, intellectually engaging, and entertaining. The book will be of interest to students of Latin American literature and readers interested in postmodernity. Recommended most certainly for academic libraries and bookstores catering to a lettered clientele. Laura Barbas Rhoden, Wofford Coll., Spartanburg, SC Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
