The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories Audiobook

" This is my first Don DeLillo book, and I can't say it was a super exciting experience. His style, based on the nine short stories that make up this volume, is dreamlike and ethereal, not something that can sustain me when disconcertingly shifting gears every twenty pages or so to a new set of characters, a new setting, and the absence of a traditional plot. There are some interesting pieces here to be sure; the one I like most is the opening chapter, "Creation," in which a couple is stranded on a tropical island due to unreliable air transportation. But even this story took some rather unexpected turns with little attention to characterization. The woman departs when one seat opens up on a tiny plane, and the man quickly jumps into bed with another woman who has been waiting for a departure. There's no explanation though on why he so quickly betrays his fled partner, and in fact it seems completely commonplace. This type of experience is echoed in most of the other stories, and in some cases, as in "Hammer and Sickle" when an incarcerated narrator's tween daughters begin reciting a poetry of world financial disasters during a visit, any semblance of verisimilitude totally devolves. I'm sure there is a point to all of this, but I just didn't get it! "

" Unpredictable crowds. Paintings of murdered or suicidal terrorists. Children reciting news of economic collapse. Fleeing, soon-to-be-dead children reincarnated as ghostly figures on advertising billboards. It all adds up to terror, delivered DeLillo style. "

" Half way through this book i thought i'd got it but by the time i'd forced my way to the end i knew i hadn't ... although the writing is beautiful i couldn't get used to the way the characters conversed ( or not ) .. i did think after the first few stories that this was a more poetic version of Last Exit to Brooklyn ... but the last few stories threw me ... what was their point & where were they going ?? But, by this time, i didnt really care anyway ... "

" need to process before review, F. Harry Stowe, floating almound crisps bars, the subway... "

" A really great overview of DeLillo short-story work over the length of his career. Highlight for me was 'Baader-Meinhof', but there are plenty of highlights here. "

" An excellent collection of short stories written over many years time. Very thought provoking. "

" I preferred his later stories to the earlier ones....or maybe I've just outgrown him? "

" Stories written over the past 3 decades show the breadth and depth of DeLillo's writing. "

" Masterful, insightful and gorgeous text. I usually do not prefer short stories as they tend to be forgetful and longer works are more engrossing and more fully developed. Not so here; I will remember each story and it's messages for a long time. "

" writing short stories takes a different sort of talent than writing novels. in spite of all the great reviews i read of this book, it just didn't grab me. i felt many of the stories were not just short, but incomplete. "

" all fascinating, some great: Human Moments in World War III, Hammer and Sickle. He's a treasure. "

" The title story is an all timer: two nuns doing god's work from different directions, the South Bronx and a miracle, perhaps. Elsewhere, DeLillo's ability to capture/communicate an edgy paranoia and what passes for American culture/way of life is uncanny and often discomforting. But on the mark. "

" The best story here is the one that is an excerpt from "Underworld", but all of them were enjoyable. "

" I loved every piece EXCEPT for the title story. Wonderful art. "

" I'm not sure what the fuss it all about. I liked the stories, but they weren't luminous. "

" A few stories were overwrought, but these were eclipsed by some of the best stories I've ever encountered. "

" Powerful stories by DeLillo who is better known as a novelist. The title story is one of the finest I have read. "

" Loved this book of 9 short stories by Don DeLillo. Not always a fan of the short story format...sometimes it takes so long to get into a story and by then it's over, but all nine of these were wonderful. Recommended. "

" Too post-modern for my taste. An unconventional narrative (which would be fine) except the stories had no dramatic arc, no real ending, just meandered. "

" Beautiful, understated, moving. What a truly exceptional writer. "

" S'okay. Don't think this dystopian stuff is for me. "