The stories in The River of Lost Voices are unified not only by their vividly rendered Guatemalan settings, but by the pervasive sense of folktale that is evident in both the magic of their imagery and the pleasing unpredictability of their forms.
—(Stuart Dybek, author of Childhood and Other Neighbors and 1998 Iowa Short Fiction Award Judge)

Tender, beautiful, touching stories about a Guatemala that is, at once, strange and universal. . . .A remarkable collection from a new writer with a major talent. -- Author of A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain

These stories display Mark Brazaitis' uncanny ability to offer up one surprise after another with such authority that the strangest turns of plot soon seem as natural as wind or rain. The stories draw their energy from the fault line of Guatemalan society, especially the internal divide Spanish—speaking ladinos and Mayan indígenas (who are themselves divided, speaking many dialects). Whether the subject is a Mayan detective falling in love, and illiterate plantation owner 'reading' books without words, or a missionary whose sermons get 'translated' into local myth, Brazaitis maps this complex territory with an astoundingly sure eye and a finely modulated style. What a fine new talent has appeared among us!
—(Lewis Hyde, author of Trickster Makes This World)

Brazaitis has written a powerful collection about displacement, disappointment, and corruption but also about courage, humor, playfulness, and persistent hope. Histories of marginalized Guatemalans are by turn charming, unsettling, and moving—and they are told in language that sings.
—(Elizabeth Graver, author of Unraveling)

When you finish these wonderful stories...you might feel as if they were a dream you just had. Funny, strange, sad, and exquisite things happened there, and there were so many marvelous perturbing details that you can't get them out of your head; their mood takes you over like the afternoon rains.