A Gripping Short Story Collection About Guatemalan Heritage and Masculinity
There’s something special about starting a new book: finding your footing in a fresh setting, gathering first impressions of characters, getting a glimpse of what adventures the author has in store for you. The best short story collections allow you to do this over and over again. Each new story invites you into a different world, with a unique perspective to explore. And together, these stories are layered into a larger landscape of the author’s vision.
One example of such a short story collection — full of captivating scenes, gripping from the start, coming together to paint an unforgettable picture — is debut author Jared Lemus’s new book Guatemalan Rhapsody.
Guatemalan Rhapsody: Stories by Jared Lemus
A medicine man offers healing through sacrifices to the patron saint of cigarettes and alcohol. A group of orphaned brothers craft fake construction sites to rob unsuspecting motorists. Two friends vie for tattoo artist fame while using their own and each other’s skin as canvas. A movie crew filming in a small Guatemalan town upend the relationships between locals. A long-distance trucker hiding his addiction takes his toddler on a dangerous drive.
Guatemalan Rhapsody is full of characters and situations that crackle with tension, desire, and hunger for something just out of grasp. Each story comes alive in vivid color from its first words, with gripping settings across Guatemala and the Guatemalan diaspora in the U.S. Jared Lemus brilliantly interrogates themes of Guatemalan heritage, masculinity, responsibility, and loyalty in his debut short story collection, proving himself a dazzling new writer to watch.
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It’s a rare gem of a book that so perfectly combines deft literary prose, thrilling intensity, and sharp humor. It’s even rarer to find a collection of short stories where every single one hits just right, while including a dynamic array of unique characters and situations. If you think short stories aren’t for you, Guatemalan Rhapsody might just change your mind.
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