UNDERGROUND RIVER

Underground River and Other Stories ($30.00, paper $12.00; June 3, 1996; 129 pp.; 0-8032-1034-5; paper 0-8032- 5927-1). A collection of 12 abrasive and confrontational tales selected from the small oeuvre (three volumes containing 30 stories) of a Mexican writer (1928-89) renowned for her forthright depictions of women's victimization by men and thwarted pursuit of erotic liberation and romantic happiness. Men are too often one-dimensional monsters (e.g., in the creepy ``The Shunammite'') in these accusatory, overheated fictions, several of which (such as ``The Mirrors'' and ``Shadow in the Shadows'') exfoliate from simple conflict into garish melodrama. Arredondo's strident, passionate voice takes some getting used to, but its rhythms echo, and linger perversely in the memory.