When my mother in law died, a friend sent me this book and it was a true comfort. Before I had even finished reading it, I had occasion to pass it on to someone else who was coping with a death in the family. Sadly, I have several other friends and family members who have faced recent losses. I've always felt helpless in writing a sympathy card, so I'm ordering 6 copies of this wonderful book to send instead of sympathy cards. Two I am having shipped directly to the recipients, the others I'm going to mail or present myself.

What a profoundly useful book. This book was published just when I needed it, during the wrenching final weeks of my mother's life. Since then I have given it to friends, donated a copy to our church library and continued to be amazed -- and grateful -- at the scope of author Pat McNees's discoveries. Because of her, I got help from Ben Franklin, of all people, during a very difficult time.

I read this book when I lost my 27yr-old sister-in-law. It made me feel like I wasn't alone with my feelings and that if others had gotten through such terrible grief, I could too. I have loaned it to friends going through the loss of a loved one and they found it very comforting as well.

An adequate, though by no means exhaustive, anthology of Latin American stories translated into English. The "contemporary" label is not entirely adequate: the stories start from the late 19th century and continue only until the 1970's. There is a real need to update with more current selections. Also inadequate are the critical commentaries that accompany the stories, since much is taken from articles that are thirty years old. It would be useful to include in new editions the date of publication for each story, and the original title in Spanish or Portuguese. It is also worth noting that of the 34 stories, only two are written by women.