You know how many people have been advocating for more reading material where the author is of the same race, ethnicity, or nationality as the reader? And how everyone deserves to read a book with their own voice telling it? I think I finally get it.

This collection of short stories has many well-known authors. I was aware of a few and had read some of their previous material but what touched me was discovering voices and stories so similar to ones I've heard. Not only were there South American authors but some from the US as well. There were many that included that magical realism that I've grown accustomed to in Latin American novels as well as wistful anecdotes, or at least that was the vibe that I got with some of them.

I can't wait to dig deeper into the bibliography of some of the authors that I discovered with this book and hopefully the next person I share my copy with will find something they enjoy as well. ( )

I love the Sudden Fiction series! Flash fiction is one of my favorite story styles, and Sudden Fiction Latino delivers tasty bite-sized morsels with sweetness and bite. I'm always in favor of reading more literature in translation, and here's hoping that this collection heralds a new onslaught of international flash fiction translated into English for U.S. release.

Sudden Fiction Latino was my first foray into the short-short story. Overall, it was a good experience, but a few of the stories really left you wanting more-which is part of the point, I suppose.

The collection is quite varied, ranging from the common to the surreal. The collection also is also broad in terms of the writers. Most readers will recognize a few names, but there are many new voices represented here too.

Because the stories are so short, it's a great book to have at hand for those times when you have a few minutes to spare for some pleasure reading and don't want to attempt a longer work in piecemeal fashion. ( )

This collection is very good overall and I felt that I was introduced a a number of new authors. I also like that it's sudden fiction, which is often more approachable for high school students than longer short stories. ( )

There is great variety in this collection of short-shorts by writers from Latin America and the U.S. (Latino). Intermingling translations with pieces written in English, the anthology does not so easily divide at the U.S. border. As in any collection, several stories didn't particularly impress me, most I enjoyed, and a few really engaged me. Looking back, I see that my own favorites split pretty evenly.

From Latin America: Roberto Bolano's "Phone Calls" stands out, but so do works by writers who were new to me. Marco Denevi's "The Lord of the Flies" goes beyond a set piece in its imaginative look at religion. "The Proof" by Rodrigo Rey Rosa portrays a child's cruelty in a way that is both unflinching and tender.

From the U.S.: Daniel Alercon's "The Visitor" is a haunting story of a family starting again in the aftermath of a natural disaster. In "The Back of My Own Head in a Crowd," Alberto Rios artfully inhabits the mind of a woman at loose ends. And Ana Castillo's "Foreign Market" is heartbreaking in its economical telling of an embarrassing love affair.

In a few instances, groupings of microstories were included, and I would have enjoyed seeing more of them represented. The guidelines for length, though, are determined by this series, and the editors' flexibility with them seems to have paid off in a strong collection. ( )