?Within the last ten years there has been a noticable increase in the number of critical studies dedicated to the narrative of the late Cuban short-story writer Lino Novas Calvo (1905-83). Long overshadowed by many of the giants of Spanish American literature, he is finally taking his place as one of this century's most original and innovative writers of short fiction. Rose's book is a detailed analysis of the writer's principal stories with particular emphasis upon his unique use of narrative mode and dialogue in portraying characters and events that are typically Cuban yet at the same time undeniably universal. It is through her study of point of view and colloquial language that Roses demonstrates how Novas Calvo, through a curious blending of Havana history and his own personal life, communicates to his reader a very authentic vision of the contemporary outsider. A useful selected bibliography of primary and secondary sources is included. An appropriate acquistion for undergraduate, graduate, and public libraries.?-Choice