The emergence of modern narrative from Spanish-speaking Latin America represents one of the key cultural developments of the twentieth century. This account introduces readers to modern Latin American fiction in its cultural and political contexts, and to debates about how to read it. The author examines the phenomena of the New Novel and the Boom, as well as the related phenomenon of Magical Realism, placing them within the wider context of narrative production since Independence and more recent developments since the 1970s. He combines an overview of the evolution of Latin American writing with detailed analyses of key texts from authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges and Isabel Allende. Other areas covered include nation-building narratives, national and regional fictions, Indigenism, modernismo, the Post-Boom and Hispanic American fiction in the USA.