War by Candlelight: Stories (P.S.) (Paperback)

~ Daniel Alarcon (Author) "I was fourteen when the lagoon spilled again..." (more)
Key Phrases: San Juan, New York, Don Hugo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Civil strife and natural disasters mark these nine unflinching stories set in upper Manhattan and the blighted countryside and atrophied capital of Peru. Callous government forces destroy a prison controlled by rioting inmates in the grimly poetic "Flood." In the "City of Clowns"—first published in the New Yorker—social protests crowd Lima, where "dying is the local sport," while narrator Oscar, a jaded young journalist, grapples with his father's death and with his father's second family, which includes other sons and a mistress who seems to be befriending his mother. A revolutionary, who, with his compañeros, worships "frivolous violence," prowls around looking for black dogs to slaughter in "Lima, Peru, July 28, 1979." His brief, almost tender interaction with a passing cop is a striking example of doomed connection. And an accidental explosion kills a well-educated guerrilla in a Peruvian jungle, leaving his infant daughter fatherless, in the affecting title story. Even the collection's warmest scene—a father gives his impish five-year-old a make-up kit for her birthday in "A Science for Being Alone"—is muffled by her and her mother's impending emigration to the United States. Though his vision often seems bleak, Alarcón's voice is fierce and assured, and his debut collection engages.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Born in Peru and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Alarcon returned to Peru on a Fulbright and now evokes the sorrows and beauty of that ravaged land with a precision and steadiness that stand in inverse proportion to the magnitude of the losses he so powerfully dramatizes. Floods and earthquakes destroy what little equilibrium remains in a relentlessly violent world in which the authorities and the rebels are equally vicious and corrupt. In "Flood," a carnival of carnage erupts as floodwaters rise, and Alarcon's young narrator reports, "We were blind with happiness." In another tale, a young painter gives up his studies in Lima to join the revolution, but things get off to an ignoble start. In "City of Clowns," first published in the New Yorker, a reporter turns a casual assignment into a metaphysical experience. Keenly aware of how "life can disappear just like that," and cued to the fact that even as technology seems to erase barriers between cultures, it fails to foster genuine communication, Alarcon, gifted and perceptive, joins a new wave of incisive literary border-crossers that includes David Bezmozgis, Courtney Angela Brkic, Judy Budnitz, and Rattawut Lapcharoensap. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060594802
• ISBN-13: 978-0060594800
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #114,716 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #30 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Hispanic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories from Lima La Horrible, April 8, 2005

By	Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: War by Candlelight: Stories (Hardcover)

Globalization is a funny thing. Who would think that one of the best up and coming South American writers would be a Peruvian American from Birmingham, Alabama who writes in English. What makes him a South American is that Alarcon is a gifted chronicler of life in Lima, Peru. There is nothing nostalgic or romantacized about Alarcon's Lima. It's Lima, La Horrible. A grotesque, third world city that is for some odd reason is an almost charming city in its weirdness.

As an American going back to the city where he was born, Alarcon sees Lima in a way most Peruvians miss. Alarcon has no need for magic realism. Alarcon's protagonists are handyman thieves, unemployed bank clerks, dog killing revolutionaries and journalists who on occassion ride the city's buses dressed in clown outfits. Throw in a parade of shoe shine boys and a Senderista or two and you have that strange mix that is modern day Lima.

Alarcon's short stories are precise and well written. You can almost see the finger prints of the Iowa Writers Workshop. This is a very good first collection of short stories for a young writer. I am looking forward to seeing future books. It will be interesting to see whether he stays a South American writer or turns his talents to the Latino immigrant experience in the United States.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary debut collection., October 29, 2008

By	David M. Giltinan (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The stories in this debut collection are extraordinary. Daniel Alarcón was born in Lima, raised in Alabama, spent time in Peru as a Fulbright scholar, and now lives in Oakland. Most of the stories in "War by Candlelight" are set in Peru; three take place in New York City. Whether writing about political instability in Lima or emotional turmoil in Manhattan, Alarcón writes with a kind of unobtrusive brilliance that is astonishing. I'd finish one of these stories, marvel at how awesome it was, only to find the next one even more brilliant.

"Third Avenue Suicide" (in which Reena, an Indian immigrant, keeps stalling on introducing her Peruvian boyfriend to her mother), "Lima. Peru. July 28" (a painter gets sucked into revolutionary violence), "A science for being alone" (Miguel learns that his former girl friend, the mother of his five-year old daughter, whom he has planned to propose to, intends to emigrate to the U.S.) were three of my favorites. All three are extraordinary, But they are eclipsed by the title story, and by "City of Clowns", probably the best short story I've read in the last five years.

It's not just the writing that is excellent. Whether it's a result of the insight that comes from the dual perspective of the emigrant, or a consequence of Alarcón's innate smartness, there is genuine wisdom in these wonderful, disturbing stories.

I highly recommend "War by Candlelight".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You MUST read these stories!, April 27, 2007

By	Another book lover - See all my reviews

I read these a couple months ago and am still overwhelmed by these stories. I rarely like short stories, usually can't sustain interest to read a whole book of them - but these got me. Immediately. Daniel Alarcon is a brilliant, talented writer - everything THEY say about him is true. Each character in each short story is so vivid and real, so immediately compelling. Each short story tells a lifetime of a person and a chunk of history - in this case, of Peru, or Peruvian immigrants. THe stories and situations are complex and Alarcon refrains from making political judgments or pontifications. This is some of the most interesting stuff I've read in years, it's beautifully written, it's compelling and breathtaking. And having just read his recently published novel, Lost City Radio, I have to say - I like the short stories better. These are incredible. Don't miss 'em.