The twenty stories here, many of which have been anthologized throughout the world, are strikingly beautiful pieces on enduring and universal questions by a writer the San Francisco Review of Books calls “a master crafter of the short story.”
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
"When you read these stories, as you must, you will, I believe, be uplifted and awed." - The Cleveland Plain Dealer
These twenty stories are strikingly beautiful essays on enduring and universal questions. In Rome, in the hour of his death, an American priest must choose between his Church and his God. In a hot, dirty typewriter ribbon factory in the Bronx, a young man finds love. A Dutch child in a Canadian orphanage carries in her heart the pain of war and her love for her family. A Sicilian widow meditates on the end of her family line. An Israeli scout risks the safety and respect of his comrades in an act of transfiguring gentleness and charity. In these and the fifteen other stories, "the author's special capacity is the transmission of values as the unspoken and underlying dramatic force of his fiction" (Harper's Magazine).
"A dazzling collection." - The San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle
"Mark Helprin writes with ease and sureness . . . with a compassionate understanding and a clean, lucid prose . . . that is all too rare in our fiction." - The New York Times Book Review
"A kind of genius" (The Spectator), "Helprin has total command of his imagined world in these stories of astonishing scope and power" (The Chicago Tribune).
Educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford, Mark Helprin served in the Israeli army, Israeli Air Force, and British Merchant Navy. He is the author of, among other titles, Refiner's Fire, Ellis Island and Other Stories, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir from Antproof Case, The Pacific and Other Stories, and Freddy and Fredericka.
--This text refers to an alternate
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edition.
These twenty stories are strikingly beautiful essays on enduring and universal questions. In Rome, in the hour of his death, an American priest must choose between his Church and his God. In a hot, dirty typewriter ribbon factory in the Bronx, a young man finds love. A Dutch child in a Canadian orphanage carries in her heart the pain of war and her love for her family. A Sicilian widow meditates on the end of her family line. An Israeli scout risks the safety and respect of his comrades in an act of transfiguring gentleness and charity. In these and the fifteen other stories, "the author's special capacity is the transmission of values as the unspoken and underlying dramatic force of his fiction" (Harper's Magazine).
"A dazzling collection." - The San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle
"Mark Helprin writes with ease and sureness . . . with a compassionate understanding and a clean, lucid prose . . . that is all too rare in our fiction." - The New York Times Book Review
"A kind of genius" (The Spectator), "Helprin has total command of his imagined world in these stories of astonishing scope and power" (The Chicago Tribune).
Educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford, Mark Helprin served in the Israeli army, Israeli Air Force, and British Merchant Navy. He is the author of, among other titles, Refiner's Fire, Ellis Island and Other Stories, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir from Antproof Case, The Pacific and Other Stories, and Freddy and Fredericka.
About the Author
Mark Helprin is the acclaimed author of Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Freddy and Fredericka, The Pacific, Ellis Island, Memoir from Antproof Case, and numerous other works. His novels are read around the world, translated into over 20 languages.
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More About the Author
Educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford, MARK HELPRIN served in the Israeli army, Israeli Air Force, and British Merchant Navy. He is the author of, among other titles, A Dove of the East and Other Stories, Refiner's Fire, Winter's Tale, and A Soldier of the Great War. He lives in Virginia.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Helprin's short stories are lovely.,
By
This review is from: A Dove of the East and: Other Stories (Paperback)
If you are wondering if it is worth while to read one of Helprin's mammoth novels (they are all, uhm, Big), you can get an idea from reading either a book in the Swan Lake trilogy (hard-to-find children's books, illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg), or one of his short story collections. I cherish his short stories, and this collection is one of my favorites. The variety of time, place, and subject matter, the vividness of the telling, and the kindness and sympathy he gives his subjects - all make the stories worthwhile. Mark Helprin's novels, and many of his short stories, make me feel as though constellations are coruscating in my mind. Richard Powers's novels, e.g. The Gold Bug Variations, also have this effect on me. I wish the whole world would read their books!
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful Collection of Stories,
By triskaidekaphilia (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Dove of the East and: Other Stories (Paperback)
Helprin truly is, as a friend observed, one of our greatest living writers. These stories are sublime and affecting. Katrina, Katrin' is as moving a story as I have read, and A Dove of the East does extra duty - it's a thought-provoking examination of the human condition on one level, and a look back in time at the Middle East. These stories do what good stories should: Make their impact during and immediately after reading, and then reappear in your consciousness at a later time, triggered by a tangential event perhaps, or an emotional shard.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, Poignant,
By Vera (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Dove of the East: And Other Stories (Paperback)
I am a big fan of Freddy and Fredericka and wanted to try his other works. This is a beautiful collection of stories, reminiscent of Isak Dinesen. Maybe an unusual comparison, but both of these writers are inspired by the love for life, and poignancy of human existence. Gorgeous. I cannot wait to read more of Mark Helprin's books
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
HE HAD TRIED TO EXPLAIN FOR HIS SONS THE sense of mountains so high, sharp, and bare that winds blew ice into waves and silver crowns, of air so thin and cold it tattooed the skin and lungs with the blue of heaven and the bronze of sunshining rock crevasse. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mountain dancing, burial detail Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Father Trelew, Father Wohlen, New York, Della Mercedi, Kfar Yanina, Miss Wesley, Piazza Navona, The Home Front, Back Bay Conservatory, Champ de Mars, Jew of Persia, San Francisco, Elizabeth Ridinoure, Great War, Michael Trelew, Monsieur Yaourt, North Africa, Sedgwick Street, Tel Aviv New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
HE HAD TRIED TO EXPLAIN FOR HIS SONS THE sense of mountains so high, sharp, and bare that winds blew ice into waves and silver crowns, of air so thin and cold it tattooed the skin and lungs with the blue of heaven and the bronze of sunshining rock crevasse. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mountain dancing, burial detail Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Father Trelew, Father Wohlen, New York, Della Mercedi, Kfar Yanina, Miss Wesley, Piazza Navona, The Home Front, Back Bay Conservatory, Champ de Mars, Jew of Persia, San Francisco, Elizabeth Ridinoure, Great War, Michael Trelew, Monsieur Yaourt, North Africa, Sedgwick Street, Tel Aviv New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
16
books
cite this book:
See all 16 books citing this book
- A Dove of the East And Other Stories by Mark Helprin in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Connecticut Yankee by Mark Twain on page 148
- Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Educating For Liberty: The Best of Imprimis 1972-2002 by Douglas A. Jeffrey on page 104
- The Beatitudes for Today by James C. Howell in Back Matter
- Legacy of Rage: Jewish Masculinity, Violence, and Culture by Warren Rosenberg in Back Matter
- Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin in Front Matter
See all 16 books citing this book
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