This bilingual anthology - including sixteen of Mexico's finest writers born after 1945 - offers a glimpse of the rich tapestry of Mexican fiction. From small-town dramas to tales of urban savagery, this is a major event in contemporary Latin-American fiction. Readers will meet a Mariachi singer suffering from mediocrity, an embalmed man positioned in front of the TV, a man's lifelong imaginary friend, and the town prostitute whose funeral draws a crowd from the highest rungs of the social ladder.

Contents:                 

Preface / Sealtiel Alatriste -- Introduction / Álvaro Uribe -- La cama de Lukin = Lukin's bed / Vivian Abenshushan ; translated by Susan Ouriou -- Sobre la muerte del autor = On the death of the author / Álvaro Enrigue ; translated by C.M. Mayo -- Cuerpo presente = Requiem / Eduardo Antonio Parra ; translated by Andrew Hurley -- Nostalgia / Cristina Rivera-Garza ; translated by Lisa Dillman -- Interroguen a Samantha = Questioning Samantha ; translated by Dick Cluster -- True friendship / Jorge F. Hernández ; translated by Anita Sagastegui -- Los conservadores = The preservers / Ana García Bergua ; translated by Barbara Paschke -- Shere-Sade / Rosa Beltrán ; translated by Leland H. Chambers -- Tesoro viviente = Living treasure / Enrique Serna ; translated by Katherine Silver -- Mariachi / Juan Villoro ; translated by Harry Morales -- Los crucigramas = Crosswords / Fabio Morábito ; translated by Peter Bush -- La muda boca = The muted mouth / Francisco Hinojosa ; translated by Thomas Christensen -- El fenómeno ominoso = The ominous phenomenon / Daniel Sada ; translated by Katherine Silver -- La mujer de la gabardina roja = The woman in the red coat / Guillermo Samperio ; translated by Kirk Anderson -- A golpe de martillo = Hammering away / Hernán Lara Zavala ; translated by Pamela Carmell -- Fin del mundo = The end of the world / Héctor Manjarrez ; translated by Elizabeth Bell.