Play Audiobook Sample
The King Is Always Above the People: Stories Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(0.00) - 0 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
LONGLISTED for the 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION An urgent, essential collection of stories about immigration, broken dreams, Los Angeles gang members, Latin American families, and other tales of high stakes journeys, from the award-winning author of War by Candlelight and At Night We Walk in Circles. Migration. Betrayal. Family secrets. Doomed love. Uncertain futures. In Daniel Alarcón’s hands, these are transformed into deeply human stories with high stakes. In "The Thousands," people are on the move and forging new paths; hope and heartbreak abound. A man deals with the fallout of his blind relatives' mysterious deaths and his father's mental breakdown and incarceration in "The Bridge." A gang member discovers a way to forgiveness and redemption through the haze of violence and trauma in “The Ballad of Rocky Rontal.” And in the tour de force novella, "The Auroras", a man severs himself from his old life and seeks to make a new one in a new city, only to find himself seduced and controlled by a powerful woman. Richly drawn, full of unforgettable characters, The King is Always Above the People reveals experiences both unsettling and unknown, and yet eerily familiar in this new world.
Download and start listening now!
“Though some of these stories have already been published…all share universal themes of love, death, acculturation, but above all, familial discord that transcends ethnicity…Alarcón was named one of the New Yorker’s “20 under 40”; these stories enhance his reputation with their realistic writing style and highly believable characters.”
— Library Journal
Quotes
-
“Complicated stories, told with consummate skill.”
— BBC -
“The stories in this slim, affecting work of fiction feature young men in various states of displacement after dictatorship yields to fragile democracy in an unnamed country. Alarcón, who also happens to be a gifted journalist, couples narrative experimentation with imaginative empathy.”
— New York Times -
“These stories explore immigration, family loyalty, and redemption. Alarcón throws his characters into high-stakes situations to draw out humanity where it seems little hope is left.”
— Washington Post -
“Alarcón is an empathic observer of the isolated human, whether isolated by emigration or ambition, blindness or loneliness, poverty or war. His stories have a reporter’s mix of kindness and detachment, and perhaps as a result, his endings land like a punch in the gut.”
— NPR -
“In ten vivid, captivating stories, Alarcón explores immigration, family relationships, secrets, betrayal, hope, love, heartbreak, forgiveness, and redemption.”
— BuzzFeed -
“Superb…Alarcón writes with a spellbinding voice and creates a striking cast of characters. Each narrative lands masterfully and memorably, showcasing Alarcón’s immense talent.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“A smart and understated collection that puts some new twists on old-fashioned identity crises.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
-
Finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction
-
A Vanity Fair Hot Type selection for November
-
A New York Times Editor’s Choice of the Week
-
A Nylon Magazine Pick of Books to Read This Fall
-
Longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize for Fiction
The King Is Always Above the People Listener Reviews
Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
About Daniel Alarcón
Daniel Alarcón is the author of At Night We Walk in Circles, which was a finalist for the 2014 Pen-Faulkner Award, as well as the story collection War by Candlelight, the novel Lost City Radio, and the graphic novel City of Clowns. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Granta, n+1, and Harpers, and he was named one of the New Yorker’s “20 Under 40.” He is executive producer of “Radio Ambulante,” distributed by NPR, and is an assistant professor of broadcast journalism at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York.
About David DeSantos
David DeSantos, a native of Los Angeles, is a proud member of Actors Equity Association, having performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage, and South Coast Rep, to name a few. As an audiobook narrator, he played Laertes in the Grammy-nominated audio recording of Hamlet. Along with many roles on television and in film, he produces a web series called This Is Why I’m Single.