Vida by Patricia Engel

I am not a lover of the short story, but the cheers that have heralded Patricia Engel's book are merited. I do like that the stories are linked, with the same narrator at different times in her life. Her story collection is lean and tight. Nothing really good happens, but nothing really terrible does either--the collection demonstrates that it is not necessary to build a book around something momentious. 'Vida' is an intriguingly dysfunctional quest for self that takes place within the context of immigrant and ethnic dilemmas.
As I noted, each story is narrated by the same character: a tall, fairly pretty Colombian American named Sabina. In chronologically shuffled order, we follow her from age 7 to 23. She is raised in New Jersey, in an apparently affluent household (her parents are ``new-money immigrants''). Later she moves to Miami, where four of the nine stories are set.
Lonely and aimless, Sabina attempts to fill the void with relationships. Her lovers are usually foreign; they come from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hungary, Peru and Sweden. She seems to be working her way around the globe. (Only 185 countries to go!) One notable exception is Colombia. She refuses to hook up with her own kind, despite the efforts of ``the Colombian Diaspora dating network.'' It is aa new take on the well known American story of mixing your heritage into your new country, fitting in and not standing out, being accepted and yet drifting back to those who share your culture and feel more familiar.