A Better Angel

by Chris Adrian

Book Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE

In this inventive collection of stories, Chris Adrian treads the terrain of human suffering--illness, regret, mourning, sympathy--in the most unusual ways. 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. A boy tries to contact the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312428537
• ISBN13: 9780312428532
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Nine gems............

Wow ! Chris Adrian's collection of nine short stories are outstanding. His off beat character's and his choice of subject matter, put me in mind of early Stephen King. For the most part Adrian sticks close to what he is familiar with, children and/or aspects of children who have problems, medical or otherwise. Adrian also seems to harbor deep feelings around September 11, 2001. He incorporates the events of that day into a couple of his stories and he does this in very intriguing ways. One story in particular comes to mind. The fourth story in the book, titled, The Vision of Peter Damien, takes place in pre-industrial time. A time when people who had seizures or "fits" were thought to bring bad luck to the family and consequently the village they lived in. The boy, Peter, the main character in the story, has visions or "fits". He sees two burning towers, falling people and a huge angel hit the towers. This was perhaps my favorite story in the book. Adrian's imagination is unique and his writing skill is such that, though I usually am not a fan of the short story, I was totally engrossed in this book. Good stuff, the stories linger long after one is finished reading them.

Insanely imaginitive

This collection of short stories is insanely imaginative. One story unfolds from the perspective of a troubled 9-year-old yearning to bond with his substitute teacher. Another follows the spirit of a dead woman as she shadows the living in a hospital, divining their innermost thoughts. Many of Adrian's stories are darkly humorous, and most of them stretch the boundaries of reality. All of them are full of heart, even if that heart is broken and beyond repair. Adrian, who is both a pediatrician and a divinity student in addition to a writer, blends the often incompatible medical and spiritual realms to create stories that challenge reality in credible ways. His protagonists inhabit extreme states; they are dying, murdering, possessed by evil spirits, or wallowing in sickness or addiction. Above all, they are interesting. If you're one of those people who believes most contemporary short stories read like class assignments for the Iowa Writers' Workshop, this collection will restore your faith in the power of this literary form.

Out Of Control

I really had to struggle whether to rate this a 5 or a 1. One gets the feeling that Adrian has spent years thoroughly immersed in the writing of Flannery O'Connor. Starting with "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor points to the horrific inevitable ending of her story, and the reader, more astonished than repulsed, cannot turn his eyes away. And transcending every aspect of the story is O'Connor's relationship to an incarnational God who sometimes views Creation from afar. I find "Stab" to be the best of Adrian's stories; and in this case his own better angel must have been the late O'Connor whispering in his ear. Within two or three pages, I knew where the story was going, and I couldn't dream of not going along for the ride. Sometimes, as in "Stab," I would gasp aloud at Adrian's skill as a writer. Moving from O'Connor to another Southerner, Edgar Allen Poe, may I observe that at Adrian's best, every word contributes to the effect of the story -- one that sets a terror in the center of one's heart. Other stories, it seems to me, are significantly less effective. The artist's craft is too effective by a half. His aim to shock and bring horror seems virtually out of control as one clever and well-crafted phrase follows another. The stories are so intense that I found I could read only one a week. More than that led to sensory overload. So, my profound respect to this gifted writer, and, Lord knows, we would all benefit from a true successor to Flannery O'Connor. As a divinity student, Adrian perhaps shares her affinity to a strong interior life, the fruits of which spill over into his writing. I think of her final masterpiece, "Parker's Back," and I hope that Adrian's journey as a writer leads him to similar heights.

Unique, terrific

If you are a serious reader of contemporary short stories or literature -- or just want to read and enjoy one of the most singular writers in this country -- "A Better Angel" should really delight you. The stories in this new collection by Chris Adrian are one of a kind, not what you expect when you begin each one and mesmerizing on their own terms as you get pulled into each one. And the title story is just simply remarkable, the sort of memorable story that makes me want to call friends and say, "I just read the most wonderful short story .... " What a great collection.

One of the best American writers today

It is common knowledge that Chris Adrian is both a pediatrician and a divinity student, and he somehow manages to pump out some of the most inventive and interesting writing being published today. The short stories in this collection have all been published elsewhere, but together like this one can see a continuity that may have been missed, before. The stories are: High Speeds The Sum of Our Parts Stab The Vision of Peter Damien A Better Angel The Changeling A Hero of Chickamauga A Child's Book of Sickness and Death Why Antichrist? The first thing one will notice is that a great deal of these stories deal with the aftereffects of a loved one's death--usually a brother. The characters here react absurdly, sometimes, and silently others, but their reactions always show the absurdity of life after the death of someone you love. In a situation like the death of a brother, is not insanity the most sane of reactions? Familiar characters to Adrian's universe are present in this collection--Pickie Beecher in "The Changeling" (previously called "Promise Breaker," as published in Esquire), a boy of the Claflin family in "The Vision of Peter Damien," or the quick mention of a Fie in "High Speeds." One could choose to believe that these stories are all happening in a separate universe, but there is comfort, I think, in allowing Adrian his creation. Fans of The Children's Hospital and especially Gob's Grief will not be disappointed, nor will anyone picking up Adrian for the first time. Be prepared, though, to become just as obsessed with his writing as his characters are with their own unhealthiness.