SARGASSO


pleasure of reading this story comes more from the
language than the plot.

 The second story, "Ajustes, S. A." (Adjustments,
Inc.) is a report with various addenda on a case that
could not be completed because every attempt at looking
for a reason for a divorce failed. The client sought
from the agency a legal pretext for her divorce, a very
hard task since she had a perfect husband. The story
gathers all the data to show how the agency used all
its resources to fulfill the client's wishes, but failed
anyway.

 In "Tres aer6bicos para el amor" (3 Aerobic Exercises
for Love), Vega includes three mental exercises that
contradict reality. What the protagonist goes through
in real life has nothing to do with what she imagines
she will do or what others think. In "Serie negra"
(Black serial), she also includes three parts, but each
one is only a page long and is an excellent recreation
of a murder or death scene. They remind us of Alfred
Hitchcock's half hour T. V. series where in a short time
the story was able to grip and suspend us in disbelief.

 The other two stories are long pieces and are as
absorbing, colorful and humorous as "Pasi6n de historic"
"Caso omiso" (Ignored) has a 17 year old narrator
telling the story of how he was almost involved in a
crime, even though all he wanted was to lay this older
woman. Again we have a real story that is put aside to
let loose the imaginary story. The entire collection
ends with "Sobre tumbas y heroes" (On Tombs and Heroes),
title which signals a parody of Ernesto Sabato's novel
Sobre heroes y tumbas. Each part has a headline, and
it draws together three characters who otherwise would
never be involved in the same situation. There are
several narrators who instead of clarifying the story,
really complicate matters. One of the characters is
doing research on a historical period in Puerto Rico,
and he seeks the advice of someone who because of his
age could have a better knowledge of the event. But
each character has his own reasons for not revealing all.