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22nd out of 100 books
—
41 voters
The Angel Esmeralda
by
Don DeLillo
From 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...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
November 15th 2011
by Scribner
(first published 2011)
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Dec 22, 2012
s.penkevich
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to s.penkevich by:
Conor Oberst
Shelves:
short-story,
americana
‘Let the words be the facts. This was the nature of our walks – to register what was out there, all the scattered rhythms of circumstance and occurrence, and to reconstruct it as human noise.’
After hearing the opening lyrics to the Bright Eyes song Gold Mine Gutted, I spent 2 years of high school believing that Don DeLillo was some obscure brand of whisky. While passing time between lectures in college, I stumbled upon DeLillo’s short story The Angel Esmeralda in my lit. textbook and, after fee...more
After hearing the opening lyrics to the Bright Eyes song Gold Mine Gutted, I spent 2 years of high school believing that Don DeLillo was some obscure brand of whisky. While passing time between lectures in college, I stumbled upon DeLillo’s short story The Angel Esmeralda in my lit. textbook and, after fee...more
57 likes · like · see review
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Several years back, a dear friend of mine and former fella, a pack-rat who practically asphyxiated his 3-bedroom house with all his scattered bits of fabric, broken mannequins, modified guitar pedals, doodled-upon pages of butcher paper, random glass-framed thrift-store paintings, wires, screws, stacked tupperware containers full of paints and pastels, Melodicas and chord organs, "clever" coffee mugs full of stale neon pink brush water, records, movies, and books upon books upon books, up and de...more
36 likes · like · see review
"It was Don DeLillo whiskey neat, and a blinking midnight clock" (Conor Oberst)
The aforementioned lyrics are from the Bright Eyes song "Gold Mine Gutted", and I could not stop this song from running through my mind as I read "Midnight in Dostoevsky", my favorite story in the whole collection. It reminded me of being in my late teens/early 20s and walking around town with nothing better to do but to talk about everything and nothing, the profound and the trivial, and growing from the experience....more
The aforementioned lyrics are from the Bright Eyes song "Gold Mine Gutted", and I could not stop this song from running through my mind as I read "Midnight in Dostoevsky", my favorite story in the whole collection. It reminded me of being in my late teens/early 20s and walking around town with nothing better to do but to talk about everything and nothing, the profound and the trivial, and growing from the experience....more
5 likes · like · see review
I'm usually very skeptical about short story collections written by major novelists. In my opinion, very few novelists can succeed in both the short story and novel format. The exceptions? Joyce, Hemingway, Lawrence, O'Connor, Kafka, Melville, Barth, Coover, Wallace, Vollmann, Gass, Dick . . . and now, surprisingly, DeLillo, whom I had pegged for a marathon runner and not a sprinter.
Well, DeLillo can sprint - and very well. His stories in this collection, with the exception of the title story, a...more
Well, DeLillo can sprint - and very well. His stories in this collection, with the exception of the title story, a...more
Don Delillo is one of those writers who either hits a home run with me or hits a series of amazing fouls. Mao II made me want to be a writer. White Noise pretty much convinced me I would never be good enough. Reading these 9 stories that span about 30 odd years it is clear that Delillo is a master of the literary universe. There are stories that seem to anticipate disaster and others that seem to translate the quiet terror of the present into more than words. It is like there is a hidden text be...more
Read this because it was nominated for the PEN / Faulkner award, but I would have read it anyway, love DeLillo. The stories are great, but the book is SHORT and they span such a long span of time. I want more. MORE, I say.
The first story, "Creation," is about a couple trying to get a flight out of a Caribbean airport. The words were lush while the situation was slightly shocking.
"Human Moments in World War III" discusses war and humanity from the safety of space, after the ban of nuclear weapons...more
The first story, "Creation," is about a couple trying to get a flight out of a Caribbean airport. The words were lush while the situation was slightly shocking.
"Human Moments in World War III" discusses war and humanity from the safety of space, after the ban of nuclear weapons...more
I don’t like going on too much about books. Writing in English makes it harder. But there is also that feeling of undoing something that I don’t like. Undoing characters, undoing a plot, breaking the story apart, the beginnings, the ends
Today I feel I have to write something. I can’t mark the book read, give it 5 starts and move on with my life as normal. Come home, say hello, go in the kitchen, get a glass of something, turn the computer on, give it 5 stars...
I didn’t take any notes. I don’t li...more
Today I feel I have to write something. I can’t mark the book read, give it 5 starts and move on with my life as normal. Come home, say hello, go in the kitchen, get a glass of something, turn the computer on, give it 5 stars...
I didn’t take any notes. I don’t li...more
4 likes · like · see review
This is a beautiful piece of publishing. Nine stories that map my favorite American writer's career from the early impressionistic "Creation" to the dark and enigmatic "The Starveling" (also available in the latest issue of Granta). The book is divided into three sections that invite the reader to read thematically, with each section fronted by a stark black-and-white photo. I actually have the 1983 issue of Esquire that originally ran "Human Moments in World War III," so it's nice to be able to...more
Nov 23, 2012
Christina (A Reader of Fictions)
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobook
You know how in high school or college English classes, you unpack every single line of whatever text you're studying at the time. The class looks deeply into the work for symbolism, metaphor, syntax, diction, and deeper meaning. To be honest, much as I can enjoy doing it, I think a lot of that's bullshit. Sometimes a spade is just a spade, you know. Sometimes, the color of the wallpaper in the room wasn't the author subtly trying to send the reader a message about the hero's emotional state.
Why...more
Why...more
4.5 stars. The strongest book DeLillo has released in some time. What's remarkable is how the stories work together as a whole, so that even the weakest piece "The Runner" introduces key themes that echo throughout. Pick hits: The brilliant title story (nuns vs. the Bronx, miracles vs. an OJ ad), "Human Moments in World War III" (sci-fi haunted by ancient radio transmissions), "The Ivory Acrobat" (shifting emotions during earthquake weather), and "Hammer and Sickle" (hysterical human puppet show...more
Don DeLillo �� un romanziere. Poche le interviste rilasciate, poche le apparizioni pubbliche (la sua timidezza �� tanto leggendaria quanto fantomatica), nessun corso di scrittura creativa, nessuna delle attivit�� collaterali tipiche del letterato statunitense. Se prescindiamo da una manciata di articoli e da una mezza dozzina di sceneggiature tra cinema e teatro, la sua fama si basa unicamente sui quindici romanzi che ha pubblicato negli ultimi quarant���anni. Il segreto meglio custodito della s...more
Gets under the skin, very disturbing, spare, beautiful, and cold as hell.
I can't say I exactly liked reading this story collection that spans 30 years of Don DeLillo's career; I'm in awe of it. Part of what bothers me is that he always writes in 3rd person (one story only is in 1st person) and not only are there no happy endings, no hopeful endings, just a shimmering glimpse of the existential abyss. There's no comfort except the beauty of his craft.
His writing style, in contrast to the bleaknes...more
I can't say I exactly liked reading this story collection that spans 30 years of Don DeLillo's career; I'm in awe of it. Part of what bothers me is that he always writes in 3rd person (one story only is in 1st person) and not only are there no happy endings, no hopeful endings, just a shimmering glimpse of the existential abyss. There's no comfort except the beauty of his craft.
His writing style, in contrast to the bleaknes...more
The Angel Esmeralda is the first collection of all of Don DeLillo's short stories. They span a time period of 32 years, from 1979 to 2011. I have to admit that I was not very impressed with this collection. It contains nine stories, each very different. Of the nine stories, I loved one, liked a couple and the others just didn't speak to me.
The Angel Esmeralda was my favorite story in the collection. It takes place in the South Bronx, one of the worst areas of New York City, similar to a war zone...more
The Angel Esmeralda was my favorite story in the collection. It takes place in the South Bronx, one of the worst areas of New York City, similar to a war zone...more
I received this book as a Christmas present (thank you, Mom!) and was unfamiliar with Don DeLillo prior to reading this collection of short stories. Wow, is DeLillo a captivating author! He wrote these stories over a period of almost 30 years, each time dropping the reader, without preamble, into the lives of various characters. In "Human Moments in World War III" we watch the earth pass below the window of astronaut-soldiers. In "The Angel Esmeralda", we bear witness to the poverty and tragedy...more
(Originally published in full at Entomology of a Bookworm.)
You know those times when you're craving the literary high-life, but lack the ability to commit to something as dense as War and Peace? The days that you want some thought-provoking, snobbish sounding literature to move you, but you don't have the time - or the attention span - to tackle something too daunting? I find that this is where short story collections fit the bill, and Don DeLillo's first collection, The Angel Esmeralda: Nine St...more
You know those times when you're craving the literary high-life, but lack the ability to commit to something as dense as War and Peace? The days that you want some thought-provoking, snobbish sounding literature to move you, but you don't have the time - or the attention span - to tackle something too daunting? I find that this is where short story collections fit the bill, and Don DeLillo's first collection, The Angel Esmeralda: Nine St...more
Definitely a 3.5 kind of book.
I admire DeLillo's work, but he's never been the sort of author whose work I just *have* to read. At best, he's very capable of articulating the paranoia's, obsessions, and phobias of American culture, and when his anesthetic prose fit the subject, it works wonders--for instance, in his novel Falling Man, where the trauma of 9/11 seems to be echoed in the formation of each line. But sometimes there's a disconnect between his style and his subject, and all you get is...more
I admire DeLillo's work, but he's never been the sort of author whose work I just *have* to read. At best, he's very capable of articulating the paranoia's, obsessions, and phobias of American culture, and when his anesthetic prose fit the subject, it works wonders--for instance, in his novel Falling Man, where the trauma of 9/11 seems to be echoed in the formation of each line. But sometimes there's a disconnect between his style and his subject, and all you get is...more
Read my full review at Entomology of a Bookworm.
All nine of DeLillo's stories, written between 1979 and 2011, take everyday events and reveal the unsettling sense of dread that lines even the most mundane of actions. In "Creation," a couple heads to the airport to catch a flight home from the West Indies, only to find that they did not check in often enough, their plane is oversold, no seats until the next day, must stay another night and wait for the next flight out. It is a simple case of the...more
All nine of DeLillo's stories, written between 1979 and 2011, take everyday events and reveal the unsettling sense of dread that lines even the most mundane of actions. In "Creation," a couple heads to the airport to catch a flight home from the West Indies, only to find that they did not check in often enough, their plane is oversold, no seats until the next day, must stay another night and wait for the next flight out. It is a simple case of the...more
THE ANGEL ESMERALDA. (1979-2011). Don DeLillo. ****.
This is the first exposure I’ve had to any of the author’s shorter works. All of these stories had been previously published, but were arranged chronologically for this edition. The earlier stories are gems, and worked much better than those from the later period. The transition point seems to be the title story. Before that, the author’s mood and style were right on target for the prose form. The stories that followed later, although still ve...more
This is the first exposure I’ve had to any of the author’s shorter works. All of these stories had been previously published, but were arranged chronologically for this edition. The earlier stories are gems, and worked much better than those from the later period. The transition point seems to be the title story. Before that, the author’s mood and style were right on target for the prose form. The stories that followed later, although still ve...more
In a sense the short story is great for master world-builder DeLillo, given that half the frisson of the form comes in the set-up: where we are, with whom, and with what narrator voice. So it's with some delight that the reader (or listener, as was the case for me) enters each of these nine stories to discover astronauts, moviegoers, terrorists, nuns, travelers trapped in the Caribbean, too-smart college students, victim of near-rape. These are, like most fictional constructs, mysteries: what ca...more
While WHITE NOISE may be among my favorite novels, this collection makes me less convinced of DeLillo's genius. While he certainly has a unique voice, here I found some motifs so widespread as to suggest authorial laziness. Nearly every story in this book contains at least a passage in which one or more characters construct a fictive biography of some bystander. In some of the more involved cases the entire plot of the story is a character creating a story about a more peripheral character. Thus...more
THE PERFECT INTRODUCTION TO DON DeLILLO
Don DeLillo is currently my favorite writer, and I've been on a quest to read all of his works over the past few months. Whenever anyone asks me about DeLillo and to recommend a book by him, my response has usually been something like this:
I think he's an amazing writer, but I also recognize that he's certainly not for everyone. My suggestion is to read White Noise, since it's relevant, easy to find, and highly accessible, and then decide for yourself.
Aft...more
Don DeLillo is currently my favorite writer, and I've been on a quest to read all of his works over the past few months. Whenever anyone asks me about DeLillo and to recommend a book by him, my response has usually been something like this:
I think he's an amazing writer, but I also recognize that he's certainly not for everyone. My suggestion is to read White Noise, since it's relevant, easy to find, and highly accessible, and then decide for yourself.
Aft...more
Grade: B-
L/C Ratio: 80/20
(This means I estimate the author devoted 80% of his effort to creating a literary work of art and 20% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.)
Thematic Breakdown:
40% - Cultural exploration
30% - Investigation of the human condition
30% - Crumbling of society
When people ask about my favorite authors, Don DeLillo is always on the list (even though all that really means is that I read White Noise in college and thought it was awesome). Right now he’s one of the fe...more
L/C Ratio: 80/20
(This means I estimate the author devoted 80% of his effort to creating a literary work of art and 20% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.)
Thematic Breakdown:
40% - Cultural exploration
30% - Investigation of the human condition
30% - Crumbling of society
When people ask about my favorite authors, Don DeLillo is always on the list (even though all that really means is that I read White Noise in college and thought it was awesome). Right now he’s one of the fe...more
This is a wonderful collection. It confused me at first but as I moved to the final few short stories (the collection is chronological starting with pieces from the late 70s moving to 2011) a kind of theme develops. It's very faint and not all that apparent but something clicks and you know that these pieces work well with each other. I won't say what the theme is, because even if I did, you'd probably not agree with me.
I have not read a collection of short works this strong in a long while. I...more
I have not read a collection of short works this strong in a long while. I...more
This is a first-rate compilation of short stories, DeLillo's first. The stories range across all five decades of his writing career thus far (the title story and "Baader-Meinhof" are my favorites, but all nine are worth your eye-time--it's a slim, 211-page collection). Dread, awe, confusion, happiness, boredom, and terror--television, insomnia, broadcast news, film, blight, and crime--and more! All uniquely explored in DeLillo's lively voice, which occludes cliche, instead refreshingly describin...more
These are wonderful stories by a very talented and skillful writer; the collection is of particular interest because the stories span the length of his career to date (1979 to 2011) so it's possible to observe the development of many elements of his distinctive prose, as well as some recurring themes. DeLillo is great at portraying characters who are somehow adrift, and at conveying paranoia without any hint of melodrama. This is a collection I will definitely revisit, but not in the audio forma...more
Jan 11, 2012
Brent
marked it as to-read
Last year I chose 15 books from the New York Times 100 notable books of 2010 list. So far I've read 5 of them with reactions ranging from absolute hatred to tepid amusement. I can resist trying it again though, so this is my list of 15 books from the NYT notable books of 2011 list that I picked to add to my reading list:
Angel Esmeralda -- Don Delillo
Leftovers -- Tom Perrotta
Buddha In The Attic -- Julie Otsuka
The Last Werewolf -- Glen Duncan
Mr. Fox -- Helen Oyeyemi
Come On All You Ghosts -- Matthe...more
This book is my first exposure to Don DeLillo and I may have to seek out one of his longer works. The nine short stories in this book are precisely written and show a creativity that many authors simply do not possess. That being said, I'm giving a three-star rating because I did not care for all the stories ... but really loved a couple of them.
A central theme in these stories is a one-sided view in which characters connect with others, based an supposition and observation. Many of the characte...more
A central theme in these stories is a one-sided view in which characters connect with others, based an supposition and observation. Many of the characte...more
The third story in Don DeLillo's The Angel Esmeralda is entitled "Human Moments In World War III". "Human Moments" could describe every one of the stories in The Angel Esmeralda. DeLillo captures so perfectly these moments of fragile, vulnerable, conflicted humanity. The people in these short stories are real, their vivid imaginations telling their own tales and painting realities that take them far beyond the confines of their papery lives.
I tried hard to really like The Angel Esmeralda, I real...more
I tried hard to really like The Angel Esmeralda, I real...more
I really enjoyed the first story, "Creation," but the second, and to some extent the third, left much to be desired.
"The banning of nuclear weapons has made the world safe for war" (27).
"Her self-awareness ended where the acrobat began. Once she realized this, she put the object in her pocket and took it everywhere" (72).
"That's the world out there, little green apples and infectious disease" (73).
“…giving her a snaggle smile from out of his history of dental neglect” (93).
“He was tall and spraw...more
"The banning of nuclear weapons has made the world safe for war" (27).
"Her self-awareness ended where the acrobat began. Once she realized this, she put the object in her pocket and took it everywhere" (72).
"That's the world out there, little green apples and infectious disease" (73).
“…giving her a snaggle smile from out of his history of dental neglect” (93).
“He was tall and spraw...more
Of these nine short stories, I loved two with no reservations: "Human Moments in World War III," and "Midnight in Dostoevsky." Had to work at some of the others, but worth the work, in varying degrees. DeLillo, in an interview (in the Paris Review), was asked if he had written a certain novel--a change of pace for him--to try to broaden his audience. He said no, he wouldn't know how to try to do that. He added something like this: "I take simple things and make them complex, and I don't think th...more
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Don DeLillo is an American author best known for his novels, which paint detailed portraits of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He currently lives outside of New York City.
Among the most influential American writers of the past decades, DeLillo has received, among author awards, a National Book Award (White Noise, 1985), a PEN/Faulkner Award (Mao II, 1991), and an American...more
More about Don DeLillo...
Among the most influential American writers of the past decades, DeLillo has received, among author awards, a National Book Award (White Noise, 1985), a PEN/Faulkner Award (Mao II, 1991), and an American...more
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“If you know you're worth nothing, only a gamble with death can gratify your vanity.”
—
14 people liked it
“That's the world out there, little green apples and infectious disease.”
—
4 people liked it
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