The twenty-six always compelling, often astonishing, stories in this collection are published in chronological order, so readers can appreciate the Nobel prize-winning writer's progress from early experimentation, to full-blown magical realism. Each tale is not just a read, but an experience: you join a community in the thrall of a corpse in "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"; sail through "The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship" a five-page story written as a single sentence, and feel your way, blinded, through "The Night of the Curlews". 'A single sentence of Garcia Marquez often has more meat to it than many whole novels' - "Observer".