The strength of Carme Riera's latest collection of short stories in English translation, "A Matter of Self-Esteem and Other Stories", lies in the author's wry use of narrative to explore the edges of the acceptable. In the seven stories presented by translator Roser Caminals-Heath (in collaboration with Holly Cashman), Riera, one of Catalonia's most popular contemporary writers, pits social conventions and especially pretensions against individual struggles for self-fulfillment and expression. The result is an interesting guide to modern Spanish cultural foibles and an insightful if ironic view of modern women searching for voices of their own.

At their best, Riera's stories examine this search with subtlety and compassion, as in the bewitching title story which comprises the bulk of the collection, "A Matter of Self-Esteem." At first, "Self-Esteem" appears to be the impassioned confession of a jilted academic who has failed at her last shot at true love thanks to an obsequious colleague who has used the story of their tryst as the plot of his latest novel. As Angela's story evolves over the course of a letter to her best friend Ingrid, however, it becomes clear that her intentions go beyond lament. Vengeance also happens to be in her plans, as does scrutiny of the society that encouraged her to betray herself to a compulsive liar in the name of romantic ardor: "I'm quickly leaving behind the state of mind that tango lyrics describe and in which I, as a spoiled crybaby, so often indulged," Angela writes. "The values that a polished, bourgeois education tried to instill in me-loyalty, sincerity, the obsessive cult of truth-are no longer of any use to me; they're obsolete." In their stead, Angela supplants kisses to her best friend along with the wish that Ingrid be the one to use the seeds of desire and envy to undo her betrayer.

"A Matter of Self-Esteem" is nicely paired with the other longest story of the collection, "Mon Semblable, Mon Frère," which explores the relationship between two male friends so alike in artistic ambition that the narrator is haunted by the sense they are the same person. The story unwinds in the brisk confessional style of "A Picture of Dorian Gray" and claims to shed light on the true creative force behind the brilliant poetic success of the late great Rafel. By the end, however, when Rafel's best friend and translator José-Ignacio claims to have had the "last word" on the secrets of Rafel's career, it is not clear who achieved what at what cost. Both tales are stories of plagiarism used for personal gain in which Riera pokes fun at the petty world of academic and literary recognition, and both are moving explorations of the delicate entertwining of friendship and desire.

Riera's work is well-known throughout Catalonia and Spain, having earned her the Creu de Sant Jordi, the Catalan equivalent to being knighted, as well as several major literary prizes. Her work has likewise been recognized in academic studies on contemporary Spanish women writers published in the U.S., a list of which is included in the bibliography accompanying this collection. Her work has achieved less recognition among general readers in the States, perhaps due to an ongoing lack of mainstream knowledge of the linguistic and political struggles that define contemporary Catalonia. While in some cases the humor in Riera's stories relies on familiarity with Catalan social history, Caminals-Heath's carefully annotated and eloquently translated volume helps bring into focus the wit and lyricism of Riera's original and varied narrative. Through its exploration of literature as a reflection of the other and its treatment of the colloquial voices of Riera's homeland, this collection offers readers new to Riera an intriguing take on humanity's intimate and revealing need for self-expression.