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Find out moreDaniel Alarcon was born in Lima, Peru, in 1977 and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. His collection of short stories, 'War By Candlelight', was published in 2005 to great acclaim, and was followed by a novel, 'Lost City Radio', in 2007. His writing has appeared in 'McSweeney's', 'n+1', and 'Harper's', and he has been named one of the 20 best writers under 40 by the 'New Yorker. He lives in Oakland, California. 'At Night We Walk in Circles' is his second novel.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE A breathtaking, suspenseful search for the truth of one man's spectacular downfall, from Daniel Alarcon, one of the New Yorker's 20 best writers under 40. Nelson's life is not turning out the way he hoped. His girlfriend is sleeping with another man, his brother has left their South American country and moved to the United States, leaving Nelson to care for their widowed mother, and his acting career can't seem to get off the ground. That is, until he lands a starring role in a touring revival of The Idiot President, a legendary play by Nelson's hero, Henry Nunez, leader of the storied guerrilla theatre troupe Diciembre. And that's when the real trouble begins. The tour takes Nelson out of the shelter of the city and across a landscape he's never seen, which still bears the scars of the civil war. With each performance, Nelson grows closer to his fellow actors, becoming hopelessly entangled in their complicated lives, until, during one memorable performance, a long-buried betrayal surfaces to force the troupe into chaos. Nelson's fate is slowly revealed through the investigation of the narrator, a young man obsessed with Nelson's story-and perhaps closer to it than he lets on. In sharp, vivid, and beautiful prose, Alarcon delivers a compulsively readable narrative and a provocative meditation on fate, identity, and the large consequences that can result from even our smallest choices.
The breakout book from Daniel Alarcon, one of the New Yorker's 20 best writers under 40: a breathtaking, suspenseful search for the truth of one man's spectacular downfall. Nelson's life is not turning out the way he hoped. His girlfriend is sleeping with another man, his brother has left their South American country and moved to the United States, leaving Nelson to care for their widowed mother, and his acting career can't seem to get off the ground. That is, until he lands a starring role in a touring revival of The Idiot President, with legendary guerrilla theatre troupe Diciembre. And that's when the real trouble begins. The tour takes Nelson across a landscape scarred by years of civil war. Forging bonds with his fellow actors, he becomes hopelessly entangled in their lives, until a long-buried betrayal erupts into chaos. Nelson's fate is slowly revealed through the investigation of the narrator, a young man obsessed with Nelson's story-and perhaps closer to it than he lets on. In sharp, vivid, and beautiful prose, Alarcon delivers a compulsively readable narrative and a provocative meditation on fate, identity, and the large consequences that can result from even our smallest choices.
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction An unforgettable collection of stories from Daniel Alarcon, one of the New Yorker's 20 best writers under 40, and one of the best storytellers of our time. Migration. Betrayal. Family secrets. Doomed love. Uncertain futures. In Daniel Alarcon'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.
LONGLISTED for the 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTIONAn 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 Alarcon's hands, these are transformed into deeply human stories with high stakes. In "e;The Thousands,"e; 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 "e;The Bridge."e; 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, "e;The Auroras"e;, 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.
Es lauft nicht gerade rund fur Nelson. Sein Bruder hat die lateinamerikanische Heimat in Richtung USA verlassen, und seine Freundin trifft einen anderen, wird schwanger. Fur den jungen Schauspieler ist es deshalb ein Lichtblick, als er vom legendaren Theatermacher Henry Nunez fur eine Rolle besetzt wird. Zusammen gehen sie auf Tournee und spielen in den Stadten der Provinz, auf Marktplatzen und vor Bergleuten, ein Stuck uber Leben und Tod. Doch bei einem dieser Gastspiele kommt es zum Eklat: Nelson gibt seine Rolle im Stuck auf und nimmt im echten Leben eine falsche Identitat an, die ihn als tragischen Helden in die Irre fuhren wird. Mit diesem Roman hat sich Alarcon endgultig in die erste Reihe der bedeutendsten US- amerikanischen Autoren geschrieben. Vorsatzlich werden hier die Grenzen zwischen Kunst und Leben verwischt - wie schon in seinem groartigen, in zahlreiche Sprachen ubersetzten Debutroman Lost City Radio gilt auch hier: Liebe ist immer politisch.
The breakout book from a prizewinning young writer: a breathtaking, suspenseful story of one man's obsessive search to find the truth of another man's downfall Nelson's life is not turning out the way he hoped. His girlfriend is sleeping with another man; his brother has left their South American country and moved to the United States, leaving Nelson to care for their widowed mother; and his acting career can't seem to get off the ground. That is, until he lands a starring role in a touring revival of The Idiot President, a legendary play by Nelson's hero, Henry Nunez, leader of the storied guerrilla theater troupe Diciembre. And that's when the real trouble begins. The tour takes Nelson out of the shelter of the city and across a landscape he's never seen, which still bears the scars of the civil war. With each performance Nelson grows closer to his fellow actors, becoming hopelessly entangled in their complicated lives until, during one memorable performance, a long-buried betrayal surfaces to force the troupe into chaos.Nelson's fate is slowly revealed through the investigation of the narrator, a young man obsessed with Nelson's story-and perhaps closer to it than he lets on. In sharp, vivid, and beautiful prose, Alarcon delivers a compulsively readable narrative and provocative meditation on fate, identity, and the large consequences that can result from even our smallest choices.
'Lost City Radio' is a poignant and deeply moving novel from a promising new author, which looks intensely at war's damaging effect on society and the individual. Ever since the civil war that took her husband ended, Norma has been the voice of consolation to a people broken by violence. Every week, bereft families listen to her radio show as she reads out the names of the missing, those who vanished in the clamour and brutality of the drawn-out conflict, with the hope of reuniting the few survivors with their families. Successes are few; her true gift is the offer of hope. Although her face is unknown to her listeners, her name and spirit are celebrated by a wayward nation searching for a guiding force. But her life is forever changed when a young boy from a jungle village enters her radio studio and provides a connection to the husband she thought lost - the husband she has not seen for ten years since departing for the war. Her story and those tangled up in it reveal a country in flux, desperately seeking signs of life, and reasons to continue, amongst pain and uncertainty. Stunning, timely, powerful and absolutely mesmerizing, 'Lost City Radio' probes the deepest questions of war: from its wide reaching affect on a society to its intimate emotional impact on every person involved. This searing yet tender first novel marks Alarcon's emergence as a new voice in American fiction, fully-formed and ready to be heard.