
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
227 pages
Product Description
<DIV><DIV><DIV><P>The stories in <I>A Better Angel</I> describe the terrain of human suffering—illness, regret, mourning, sympathy—in the most unusual of ways. In “Stab,” a bereaved twin starts a friendship with a homicidal fifth grader in the hope that she can somehow lead him back to his dead brother. In “Why Antichrist?” a boy tries to contact the spirit of his dead father and finds himself talking to the Devil instead. In the remarkable title story, a ne’er do well pediatrician returns home to take care of his dying father, all the while under the scrutiny of an easily-disappointed heavenly agent.</P><P>With <I>Gob’s Grief</I> and <I>The Children’s Hospital</I>, Chris Adrian announced himself as a writer of rare talent and originality. The stories in <I>A Better Angel</I>, some of which have appeared in <I>The</I> <I>New Yorker</I>, <I>Tin House</I>, and <I>McSweeney’s</I>, demonstrate more of his endless inventiveness and wit, and they confirm his growing reputation as a most exciting and unusual literary voice—of heartbreaking, magical, and darkly comic tales. </P><P> </P></DIV></DIV></DIV>