The Angel Esmeralda: Nine StoriesA finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Story Prize, the first ever collection of “dazzlingly told” (The New York Times) short stories—now available as a trade paperback. Set in Greece, the Caribbean, Manhattan, a white-collar prison and outer space, this “small masterpiece of short fiction” (USA Today) is a mesmerizing introduction to Don DeLillo’s iconic voice. 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. 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
Creation | 3 |
Human Moments in World War III | 25 |
PART | 45 |
The Ivory Acrobat 73 | 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 believe body building Celsius child Christa coat color Colorado Command crowd dead DeLillo Don DeLillo door Dostoevsky Dubai earth Edgar thought edge euro eyes face father feel felt front girl Gracie Greece half Hammer and sickle hands happened head hear heard hood Ilgauskas inmates inside Inuit Ismael Jill kids kind knew leaned light listened lived looked Minoans mother moved movie night noise paintings paused PEN/Faulkner Award Phillies Blunt picture reading runner Rupert seat seemed sleep smile someone somewhere sound speaking spoke standing stared stood stopped street surreal talk tell There's things tion Todd told took traffic trees trying turned voice waited walked wall watching wearing What's wind window woman word wore