The Angel Esmeralda: Nine StoriesFrom one of the greatest writers of our time, his first collection of short stories, written between 1979 and 2011, chronicling—and foretelling—three decades of American life Set in Greece, the Caribbean, Manhattan, a white-collar prison and outer space, these nine stories are a mesmerizing introduction to Don DeLillo’s iconic voice, from the rich, startling, jazz-infused rhythms of his early work to the spare, distilled, monastic language of the later stories. In “Creation,” a couple at the end of a cruise somewhere in the West Indies can’t get off the island—flights canceled, unconfirmed reservations, a dysfunctional economy. In “Human Moments in World War III,” two men orbiting the earth, charged with gathering intelligence and reporting to Colorado Command, hear the voices of American radio, from a half century earlier. In the title story, Sisters Edgar and Grace, nuns working the violent streets of the South Bronx, confirm the neighborhood’s miracle, the apparition of a dead child, Esmeralda. Nuns, astronauts, athletes, terrorists and travelers, the characters in The Angel Esmeralda propel themselves into the world and define it. DeLillo’s sentences are instantly recognizable, as original as the splatter of Jackson Pollock or the luminous rectangles of Mark Rothko. These nine stories describe an extraordinary journey of one great writer whose prescience about world events and ear for American language changed the literary landscape. |
Contents
Human Moments in World War III | 25 |
PART | 45 |
The Ivory Acrobat | 55 |
The Angel Esmeralda | 73 |
PART THREE | 103 |
Midnight in Dostoevsky | 119 |
Hammer and Sickle | 147 |
The Starveling | 183 |
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Abu Dhabi Andreas Baader ANGEL ESMERALDA anorak ao dai arms Baltimore Catechism Barbados body brassiere Celsius child Christa coat color Colorado Command crowd dead DON DELILLO door Dostoevsky Dubai edge empty Esmeralda euro everything eyes face father feel felt floor front girl Gracie Greece half Hammer and sickle hands happened he’d head hear heard hood Ilgauskas inmates inside Inuit Ismael Jill kids kind knew leaned light listened lived looked Minoans moved movie night noise paintings past paused reading runner Rupert seat seemed sense sleep smile someone somewhere sound speaking spoke standing stared stood stopped street subway surreal talking tell theater There's things ticket tion Todd took traffic trees trying turned voice Vollmer waited walked wall wasn’t watched wearing What's window woman word wore