Emerald City
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4.3 • 23 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A collection of masterful stories from the bestselling, award-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad: “Boldly modulated tales of displacement and blazing moments of truth.... Riveting, vaguely Hitchcockian.... Piercingly tender.... Outstanding" (The New York Times Book Review).
These elegant and poignant stories—Egan's first collection—deal with loneliness and longing, regret and desire. Egan’s characters—models and housewives, bankers and schoolgirls—are united by their search for something outside their own realm of experience. They set out from locations as exotic as China and Bora Bora, as cosmopolitan as downtown Manhattan, or as familiar as suburban Illinois to seek their own transformations. The stories in Emerald City are seamless evocations of self-discovery.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this evocative short-story collection by best-selling novelist Jennifer Egan, the all-too-relatable desire for something new and different sets fascinating, unexpected events into motion. In each of her 11 tales, Egan explores the motivations of characters who long for something more than what they have. From well-heeled stock traders to Catholic schoolgirls to part-time models, all of Egan’s characters are on the hunt for something, whether it’s love, success, connection, or purpose. Written in wonderfully brisk and confident prose, these stories traverse the globe, from Illinois to China to Kenya, and invite us to consider our own desires and choices. Emerald City offers truly moving insight into what people want—and why.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
These 11 stories of self-discovery and searching from Egan--set everywhere from Bora Bora to New York City--chart the lives, longings, and struggles of a variety of characters: wives, bankers, models, just to name a few. Narrated by a gifted cast, the tales come to life via a series of winning readings, each one as enjoyable as the last. At times, it's almost as if the three narrators are attempting to outdo each other with inspired reading after inspired reading. Among the high points is Madeleine Lambert's memorable performance of "Sacred Heart," about a Roman Catholic schoolgirl who recounts her past and looks forward to the discoveries of the future. Narrators Charlie Thurston and Richard Waterhouse both read with muted intensity, imbuing their respective performances with drama and tension. Fans of Egan--and the short story--will be delighted. An Anchor paperback.
