The Angel Esmeralda (short story collection)

The Angel Esmeralda (short story collection). This collection of short stories by Don DeLillo features nine narratives that explore the American identity and the human condition, drawing on themes and motifs reminiscent of Thomas Pynchon and Philip Roth. The stories, which span several decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s, offer a unique perspective on the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the September 11 attacks, reflecting DeLillo's fascination with Lee Harvey Oswald, John F. Kennedy, and Fidel Castro. Through his characteristic blend of postmodernism and social commentary, DeLillo engages with the works of Jean Baudrillard, Gilles Deleuze, and Michel Foucault, among others, including Martin Heidegger and Walter Benjamin.

Publication History

The collection was published in 2011 by Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, and received widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers drawing comparisons to the works of John Updike, Richard Ford, and Tobias Wolff. The book's publication was preceded by a series of readings and lectures by DeLillo at institutions such as Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Berkeley, where he engaged with scholars like Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek. The stories themselves have been anthologized in various collections, including The Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories, alongside works by Alice Munro, Toni Morrison, and Joyce Carol Oates.

Plot and Themes

The stories in the collection explore a range of themes, from the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Wall to the Iran hostage crisis and the Gulf War, reflecting DeLillo's interest in the intersection of politics and culture, as seen in the works of Hannah Arendt and Theodor Adorno. The title story, "The Angel Esmeralda," is set in the South Bronx and explores the lives of Puerto Rican immigrants, drawing on the experiences of Oscar Hijuelos and Julia Alvarez. Other stories, such as "Baader-Meinhof" and "Hammer and Sickle," examine the Red Army Faction and the Soviet Union, respectively, engaging with the ideas of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Throughout the collection, DeLillo engages with the works of Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Martin Amis, among others.

Reception and Criticism

The collection received widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers praising DeLillo's unique blend of lyricism and social commentary, drawing comparisons to the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Italo Calvino. The book was praised by critics such as Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times and James Wood of The New Yorker, who noted its similarities to the works of Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka. However, some critics, such as Jonathan Franzen and Jennifer Egan, argued that the collection was uneven and that some of the stories felt experimental and challenging, reflecting the influence of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. Despite these criticisms, the collection was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was praised by authors such as Michael Ondaatje and Margaret Atwood.

Background and Inspiration

DeLillo has stated that the collection was inspired by his own experiences growing up in the United States during the Cold War and his fascination with the history of the 20th century, including the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Civil War. He has also cited the influence of European philosophy and literary theory, particularly the works of Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes, as well as the ideas of Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno. The stories in the collection reflect DeLillo's interest in the intersection of politics and culture, as seen in the works of Hannah Arendt and C. Wright Mills. DeLillo has also stated that he was influenced by the works of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway, among other American writers, including F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck.

Style and Structure

The stories in the collection are characterized by DeLillo's unique blend of lyricism and social commentary, drawing on the styles of T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens. The narratives are often non-linear and experimental, reflecting DeLillo's interest in postmodernism and avant-garde literature, as seen in the works of Kathy Acker and William S. Burroughs. The stories often feature multiple narrative voices and unreliable narrators, adding to the sense of complexity and ambiguity, reminiscent of the works of Robert Coover and Thomas Pynchon. Throughout the collection, DeLillo engages with the works of Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, among others, including Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams.