The eight works in Spanish Short Stories 1 by Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Camilo José Cela and other writers appear to us to be chosen both for their literary merit and for being representative of twentieth-century Spanish-American writing. The English translations are printed in a parallel text with the Spanish original and are literal rather than literary, meaning that the translations are as close to the original as possible without being overly concerned with the loss of the flourish of the language through translation, a typical concern of translators.

This volume seems intended primarily to help English-speaking students of Spanish. These stories stand on their own, however, and make excellent reading in either language. The book is highly recommended by the ILISA staff as a tool for study as well as for its literary merit.