From Library Journal
This comprehensive collection by 51 20th-century Caribbean writers is as rich and diverse as the cultures and authors who created them. From Cuba and Haiti to Colombia and Guyana, these stories combine a unique sense of place with universal themes. World-renowned authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and V. S. Naipaul are included alongside prominent Caribbean authors Patrick Chamoiseau and Juan Bosch and relative newcomers Edwidge Danticat and Alicia McKenzie. While the majority of pieces portray the area's ties to England and the United States, translations from Spanish, French, and Dutch illustrate that there is not one Caribbean culture or literature, but many. While the stories stand well on their own, the editors' organization, introduction, and bibliography provide valuable historical and literary background. Lyrical and well crafted, these stories are a feast for the ear as well as the mind. Highly recommended for all collections.?Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Fore Word, Lisa I.S. Archibald
At its spiciest moments The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories displays the ingredients of the best of Caribbean callaloos. Like this popular dish, the collection is a sumptuous stew that includes a little bit of everything from the macabre to the magic realist to the comical. There is a temptation to read these works slowly--that is--to savor each of its entries carefully before digesting them. Yet the impulse to do so battles an equally strong desire to turn the pages quickly in order to relish soon the delights of the others. A book, indeed, as palatable as it is sustaining. As short story collections go, the stories in The Oxford Book of Caribbean Stories are as diverse as the writers and world views that inform them. The literature lover (Caribbean or otherwise) can only revel in the masterful construction of each story while enjoying their narrative charms.


Book Description
Some of the freshest, most vital, and diverse new literature written in the twentieth century has emerged from the Caribbean. And central to Caribbean literature is the short story, with its ties with the oral tradition. Now, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, edited by Stewart Brown and John Wickham, brings together fifty-two stories in a major anthology representing over a century's worth of pan-Caribbean short fiction. This breathtaking collection is unique--and indispensable--in its inclusion of authors from the English, French, Spanish, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. The distinctly Anglophone viewpoint of such prominent authors as, Jean Rhys, Sam Sevlon, V.S. Naipual, and E.A. Markham is richly contrasted by contributions from French, Spanish, and Dutch writers like Alejo Carpentier, Rene Depestre, and Thea Doelwijt, while the new generation--represented by such writers as Edwidge Danticat and Patrick Chamoiseau--points the way forward for Caribbean writing into the twenty-first century. With his stimulating introduction, Brown provides an up-to-date overview of Caribbean writing. Exploring the literature's themes of history, race, social justice, identity, and migration, he traces its evolution from the gritty naturalism of the Anglophone tradition to the magical realism of the French and Spanish traditions to a body of contemporary pan-Caribbean literature that cannot be contained in any convenient linguistic, geographical, or thematic definition. Charting the shifting ideologies and styles of this century--from the flamboyant wit of Samuel Selvon to the deceptive simplicity of Jamaica Kincaid--The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories delivers a wealth of satisfactions in a single volume with unprecedented range.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Bringing together 52 stories in a major anthology representing over a century's worth of pan-Caribbean short fiction, this breathtaking collection is unique in its inclusion of authors from the English-, French-, Spanish-, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.

FROM THE CRITICS

Lisa I.S. Archibald - ForeWord Magazine

At its spiciest moments The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories displays the ingredients of the best of Caribbean callaloos....As short story collections go, the stories in The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories are as diverse as the writers and worldviews that inform them. The Literature lover can only revel in the masterful construction of each story while enjoying their narrative charms...the collection will enchant readers for years to come.

Library Journal