15 Views of Miami

by Jaquira Díaz (Editor)

15 Views of Miami is a literary portrait of the Magic City told in fifteen loosely linked stories by fifteen Miami authors. Sprawling from Hialeah to Homestead, from Wynwood to Stiltsville, these stories cover a range of cultures, languages and lives, reflecting the diversity and drama of a large and often misunderstood city. Contributors include John Dufresne, Lynne Barrett, Jennine Capó Crucet, Patricia Engel, and many more award-winning authors.

Genres: Short Stories

140 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2014

About the author

Jaquira Díaz is the author of Ordinary Girls: A Memoir, winner of a Whiting Award, a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal, a Lambda Literary Awards finalist, an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce Selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads pick, and finalist for the B&N Discover Prize. She lives in New York and teaches at Columbia University.

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

15 Views of Miami edited by Jaquira Diaz is an anthology of fictional stories set in Miami, Florida. It is interesting that this concept was inspired by Jeanne Leiby. Sadly, she passed away in 2011, but her novel idea has resulted in this sprawling literary portrait of Miami. Each author in this collection must set his fictional account in a new location but there must be a link with the previous story either by a character, a phrase, a concept or even a metaphor that has resulted in an engaging portrait of this beautiful, vibrant city that is made up of many diverse and interesting neighborhoods, and one of my favorite cities ever.

The introduction by the editor Jaquira Diaz, as she describes her Miami and what it has meant to her over the years and the many ways it has changed and in other ways remains the same, is quite good and sets the tone for the book. Diaz talks about how she strived to assemble different voices, many natives of Miami, others transplants to the city. There are stories from the many diverse areas and neighborhoods of Miami, including the Wynwood Arts District, Homestead, Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Little Haiti to name a few. As with any anthology, some stories I found more gripping than others, but if you like Miami it's worth a look.

I've left Miami half a dozen times, but I keep coming back. It's a strange city--never the same place for long. It's always changing, evolving, reinventing itself."

"Yes, the narrative of my Miami is sometimes sad, but there is also growth, progress, and, of course, a plethora of stories."

[Nestor Cedeño · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me such a long time to finish this. It rested on my nightstand for months as I read other titles that garnered my attention more.
The issue here was that - as many short story collections tend to have - not every story was good, hence me not dedicating all my attention to it as a whole.
I liked some stories and really liked the concept of each one being set in a different part of Miami; this brought out the multi-diverse aspect of the city I live in. I paid attention to the shout outs and points of interest, as well as how each story was interconnected in some way. But other than that, I felt that some of the plots were in need of more planning. Each story was short, almost flash-fiction like. With some it worked perfectly, while with others not so much. This reminded me of Jonathan Escoffery’s “If I Survive You”, but that one was so much better.
I would like to incorporate this style with my students as they dabble in creative writing in my class.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had to stop and start this a few times due to too many books on my hold list becoming available at the same time. All in all, these were solid stories, but there were a few too many clunkers to call it a great collection. I liked the fact that they were varied and different. What I'm really looking forward to is the next bit of writing from Diaz, if I'm being honest.

[Paige Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked 2/15 stories. It was cool to read about places I knew but so little of the stories had to do with that. Too many borrowed or dead end premises. Worth more like $6-7 if you want to buy it at all. The covers are the real highlight.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting format with minimally connected short stories by 15 different authors. I don't have any history with Miami, so it didn't bring the nostalgia for me that it probably would for others, but it was enjoyable collection.