The House of Broken Angels, Luis Alberto Urrea
The House of Broken Angels, Luis Alberto Urrea
5 Rating(s)
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The House of Broken Angels

Author: Luis Alberto Urrea

Narrator: Luis Alberto Urrea

Unabridged: 9 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/06/2018


Synopsis

In this "raucous, moving, and necessary" story by a Pulitzer Prize finalist (San Francisco Chronicle), the De La Cruzes, a family on the Mexican-American border, celebrate two of their most beloved relatives during a joyous and bittersweet weekend.

"All we do, mija, is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death."

In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred, dies, transforming the weekend into a farewell doubleheader. Among the guests is Big Angel's half brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo, shared a life.

Across two bittersweet days in their San Diego neighborhood, the revelers mingle among the palm trees and cacti, celebrating the lives of Big Angel and his mother, and recounting the many inspiring tales that have passed into family lore, the acts both ordinary and heroic that brought these citizens to a fraught and sublime country and allowed them to flourish in the land they have come to call home.

Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels is Luis Alberto Urrea at his best, and cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank.

"Epic . . . Rambunctious . . . Highly entertaining." -- New York Times Book Review"Intimate and touching . . . the stuff of legend." -- San Francisco Chronicle"An immensely charming and moving tale." -- Boston GlobeNational Bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalistA New York Times Notable BookOne of the Best Books of the Year from National Public Radio, American Library Association, San Francisco Chronicle, BookPage, Newsday, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Literary Hub

About Luis Alberto Urrea

Luis Alberto Urrea is one of America's most critically acclaimed authors. His previous books include The Hummingbird's Daughter, The Devil's Highway, and Across the Wire. He has received a Lannan Literary Award, a Christopher Award, an American Book Award, and a Western States Book Award. Urrea lives with his family in Naperville, Illinois, where he is a professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois-Chicago.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Debra on April 08, 2018

"The entire history of his family, the world itself, the solar system and galaxy, swirled around him now in weird silence, and he felt blood dribbled down inside his body and the clock, the clock, chipped away at his existence." 4.5 stars Big Angel (Miguel Angel De La Cruz) has invited his family to h......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on May 20, 2018

5 epic family saga stars to The House of Broken Angels! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 I have found a new author to love. Luis Alberto Urrea is a storyteller, and that is the highest compliment I can give any author. Big Angel de la Cruz is the patriarch of his family, and he is dying. The book opens with him having to......more

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on July 31, 2018

Marlin Brando move over - there is a new Godfather in town, the Mexican, Big Angel. Which is an ironic name as he is crippled with cancer and no longer the strong, mammoth man he was. This is the dying of a patriarch, who is getting ready to celebrate his last birthday. The very same weekend turns in......more

Goodreads review by Lark on October 27, 2022

In 2018 I began to re-read novels with frequency and zeal. I'm not talking about re-reading Shakespeare plays and Jane Austen novels and new translations of The Iliad and all the other stuff we all agree is worth re-reading, if and when we have the time. I'm talking about turning around and re-readi......more

Goodreads review by Steve on April 12, 2019

Miguel Angel de La Cruz (Big Angel) relishes what time he has left as the partriarch of a large family now concentrated on the California side of the border. The main story takes place during a particularly dramatic window starting with his mother’s funeral, followed the next day by what he knew wou......more


Quotes

"Epic . . . Rambunctious . . . Highly entertaining . . . Sorrowful and funny . . . Cheerfully profane . . .The quips and jokes come fast through a poignant novel that is very much about time itself . . . A powerful rendering of a Mexican-American family that is also an American family."β€”Viet Thanh Nguyen, New York Times Book Review (cover review)

"A raucous, moving, and necessary book...Intimate and touching...The stuff of legend...There's deep heart and tenderness in this novel.The House of Broken Angels is, at its most political, a border story...Chillingly accurate, they're heartbreaking, and infuriating."β€”Alexis Burling, San Francisco Chronicle

"An immensely charming and moving tale...Urrea deftly inhabits many points of view, dreaming up an internal voice for each...It is a testament to his swift and lucid characterizations that one does not want to leave this party...A novel like The House of Broken Angels is a radical act. It is a big, epic storyabout how hard it is to love with all of your heart, and all of your family--regardless of which side of the border they live on."β€”John Freeman, Boston Globe

"The House of Broken Angels is a big, sprawling, messy, sexy, raucous house party of a book, a pan-generational family saga with an enormous, bounding heart, a poetic delivery, and plenty of swagger...More than once while reading the novel, I thought of James Joyce's 'The Dead,' another kaleidoscopic fable of family life that skillfully mixes perspectives...The House of Broken Angels isa book about celebration that is, itself, a celebration."β€”Michael Lindgren, Washington Post

"Urrea's gifts as a storyteller are prodigious...The book's spirit is irrepressibly high. Even in its saddest moments, The House of Broken Angels hums with joy...The noveloverflows with the pleasure of family...And all that vulnerability, combined with humor and celebration and Urrea's vivid prose, will crack you open."β€”Lily Meyer, NPR

"The House of Broken Angels is a big, messy, warmhearted epic, over-flowing with color and character...With bird's eye agility, Urrea moves between borders and generations...His narrative is imbued with the timeless texture of every immigrant's hope's and dreams...Generous to the last breath."β€”Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

"A whirling fiesta of a book...Filled with intelligence and wickedly funny cultural commentary, the story builds to an electrifying finale."β€”Marion Winik, People

"Humane and often laugh-out-loud hilarious."β€”O, The Oprah Magazine

"A sprawling yet intimate tale...rich in detail and images...It's the sort of book you might read, as I did, in one long, breathless push."β€”Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times

"Generous and big-hearted...The House of Broken Angels soars on wings of memory and imagination into the 'imperfect and glorious, messy and hilarious' tragedy and comedy of family history."β€”Diana Postlethwaite, Minneapolis Star-Tribune