Book excerpt: The twenty stories presented bilingually in this volume, many long out of print or available only in Spanish, demonstrate Ulibarri's mastery of the short story. Regional in setting but universal in their concern with the magic of ordinary experience, the stories blend fantasy and realism in their exploration of the human condition. All of them were written in Spanish and then translated, usually by the author, into English. Many of Ulibarri's stories portray the land and people of northern New Mexico. Together, these stories present a living mosaic of Hispanic, Indian, and Anglo people sharing an awe-inspiring yet oftentimes harsh landscape of forests, mountains, rivers, and animals. Conversational in tone, they preserved wonderful fragments of local history and folk traditions - witches, ghosts, and penitentes, strong-willed grandmothers, Indian chiefs, and singing cowboys. Other stories come out of the author's overseas experiences; particularly in Ecuador.