Before and After Augusto Monterroso by Will H. CorralComplete Works (And Other Stories)Mister TaylorOne Out of ThreeFinished SymphonyFirst LadyThe EclipseDiogenes TooThe DinosaurLeopoldo (His Labors)The ConcertThe CentennialI Don’t Want to Deceive YouCowComplete WorksPerpetual MotionFliesPerpetual MotionIt’s All the SameRegarding AttributionsHomage to MasochThe WorldThe Brain DrainThe Endymion ReportI Know You, MaskThe Advantages and Disadvantages of Jorge Luis BorgesFecundityYou Tell Sarabia That I Said He Should Hire Her and Place Her Here or Wherever, That I’ll Explain LaterHomo ScriptorUnder Other WreckageHow to Stop Being a MonkeyHow I Got Rid of Five Hundred BooksThe MaidsSolemnity and EccentricityWinning the StreetHumorParadiseIt May Be TrueLiving TogetherHeight and PoetryChristmas. New Year’s. WhateverChoose OneEver-Present DangerThe Outdoor PoetTender RoseBrevityErrata and Final Notice

Sophisticated wit and playful surrealist fantasy dominate these ingenious and gently mocking tales, by a Guatemalan-born soul mate to the late Jorge Luis Borges. This first English translation of Monterroso’s work offers the contents of his two published collections, Complete Works and Other Stories (1959) and Perpetual Motion (1972). They’re a monument, if that isn’t the wrong word, to this entertaining author’s trademark ‘concision and wit.’

Monterroso is certainly the leading living Guatemalan writer. . . . His microcuentos are finely honed, highly ironic, sophisticated pieces which are both very good literature and excellent pedagogical devices. I would liken his short stories to some of Borges' more accessible ones, with the added dimension of political commitment.