Emerald City

Zusatztext “Lustrous. . . .These stories sparkle with Egan's fresh imagery and precise renderings of mood and place. . . . A writer of tremendous intelligence and grace.”  — The Philadelphia Inquirer “Boldly modulated tales of displacement and blazing moments of truth. . . . Riveting, vaguely Hitchcockian. . . . Piercingly tender. . . . Outstanding.” — The New York Times Book Review “Immensely appealing. . . . Told with dazzling insight and emotional daring.” — Elle “[Egan] deftly depicts the ways in which women can create glamorously detailed personas for another based on passing observations.” — Time Informationen zum Autor Jennifer Egan   is the author of four novels:  A Visit from the Goon Squad ,  The Keep, Look at Me, The Invisible Circus;  and the story collection  Emerald City.  Her stories have been published in  The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, GQ, Zoetrope, All-Story,  and  Ploughshares,  and her nonfiction appears frequently in  The New York Times Magazine.  She lives with her husband and sons in Brooklyn. Klappentext These eleven masterful stories - the first collection from acclaimed author Jennifer Egan - 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. Elegant and poignant, the stories in Emerald City are seamless evocations of self-discovery. Leseprobe WHY CHINA?It was him, no question. The same guy. I spotted him from far away, some angle of his head or chin that made my stomach jump before I even realized who I was looking at. I made my way toward him around the acupuncturists, the herbal doctors slapping mustard-colored poultices on bloody wounds, and the vendors of the platform shoes and polyester bell-bottoms everyone in Kunming was mysteriously wearing. I was afraid he'd recognize me. Then it hit me that I'd still been beardless when he'd ripped me off, two years before, and my beard--according to old friends, who were uniformly staggered by the sight of me--had completely transformed (for the better, I kept waiting to hear) my appearance.We were the only two Westerners at this outdoor market, which was a long bike ride from my hotel and seedy in a way I couldn't pin down. The guy saw me coming. "Howdy," he said."Hello," I replied. It was definitely him. I always notice eyes, and his were a funny gray-green--bright, with long lashes like little kids have. He'd been wearing a suit when I met him, and a short ponytail, which at that particular moment signified hip Wall Street. One look and you saw the life: Jeep Wrangler, brand-new skis, fledgling art collection that, if he'd had balls enough to venture beyond Fischl and Schnabel and Basquiat, might have included a piece by my wife. He'd been the sort of New Yorker we San Franciscans are slightly in awe of. Now his hair was short, unevenly cut, and he wore some kind of woven jacket."You been here long?" I asked."Here where?""China.""Eight months," he said. "I work for the China Times ."I stuffed my hands in my pockets, feeling weirdly self-conscious, like I was the one with something to hide. "You working on something now?""Drugs," he said."I thought there weren't any over here."He leaned toward me, half smiling. "You're standing in the heroin capital of China.""No shit," I said.He rolled on the balls of his feet. I knew it was time to bid polite farewell and move on, but I stayed where I was."You with a tour?" he finally asked."Just my wife and kids. We're trying to get a train to Chengdu, been waiting five days.""What's the problem?""Mei you," I said, quoting the ubiquitous...

Report

Lustrous. . . .These stories sparkle with Egan's fresh imagery and precise renderings of mood and place. . . . A writer of tremendous intelligence and grace.  
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Boldly modulated tales of displacement and blazing moments of truth. . . . Riveting, vaguely Hitchcockian. . . . Piercingly tender. . . . Outstanding.
The New York Times Book Review

Immensely appealing. . . . Told with dazzling insight and emotional daring.
Elle

[Egan] deftly depicts the ways in which women can create glamorously detailed personas for another based on passing observations.
Time

Product details

• Authors: Jennifer Egan
• Publisher: Anchor Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 09.10.2007
• EAN: 9780307387530
• ISBN: 978-0-307-38753-0
• No. of pages: 192
• Dimensions: 132 mm x 203 mm x 14 mm
• Series: Anchor Books
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature