Guatemala

Complete Works and Other Stories, by Augusto Monterroso (1995). A legend in Guatemalan fiction, Monterroso—known for writing what is widely considered to be the world's shortest story at eight words—creates satiric and fantastical scenarios reminiscent of Borges. Through sparse prose, he weaves dream-like stories of third world exploitation, conquest, and the foibles of a cast of characters from crooked businessmen to celebrity wives. In "The Eclipse," a colonial Spaniard tries to outwit the Mayans who capture him, only to realize that they are more advanced than he expected.

I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala, by Rigoberta Menchú (1984). Exiled activist Menchú, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, calls upon traditional Mayan storytelling in this riveting memoir of her struggle on behalf of women and indigenous rights. Raised in the northern highlands as a farm laborer, Menchú went on to become a central figure in the Committee of the Peasant Union (CUC). Though some of the book's autobiographical details have been questioned, the events described are an undisputed part of Guatemalan history.