A collection of previously uncompiled stories from the short-story master and literary sensation Lucia Berlin. In 2015, FSG published A Manual for Cleaning Women, a posthumous story collection by a relatively unknown writer, to wild, widespread acclaim. It was a New York Times bestseller; the paper's Book Review named it one of the Ten Best Books of 2015; and NPR, Time, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and other outlets gave the book rave reviews. Evening in Paradise is a careful selection from the remaining Berlin stories—a jewel box follow-up for Lucia Berlin's hungry fans. Foreword: The story is the thing / by Mark Berlin—The musical vanity boxes—Sometimes in summer—Andado: a Gothic romance—Dust to dust—Itinerary—Lead Street, Albuquerque—NoeÌ⁸l. Texas. 1956 — The adobe house with a tin roof—A foggy day—Cherry blossom time—Evening in Paradise—La Barca de la Ilusion—My life is an open book—The wives—NoeÌ⁸l, 1974 — The pony bar, Oakland—Daughters—Rainy day—Our brother's keeper—Lost in the Louvre—Sombra—Luna nueva—A note on Lucia Berlin
Author
Berlin began publishing relatively late in life, under the encouragement and sometimes tutelage of poet Ed Dorn. Her first small collection, Angels Laundromat was published in 1981, but her published stories were written as early as 1960. Several of her stories appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic and Saul Bellow’s little magazine The Noble Savage. Berlin published six collections of short stories, but most of her work can be found in three later volumes from Black Sparrow Books: Homesick: New and Selected Stories, So Long: Stories 1987-92 and Where I Live Now: Stories 1993-98. Berlin was never a bestseller, but was widely influential within the literary community. She aspired to Chekhov's objectivity and refusal to judge. She has also been widely compared to Raymond Carver and Richard Yates. One of her most memorable achievements was the stunning one-page story "My Jockey," which captured a world, a moment and a panoramic movement in five quick paragraphs. It won the Jack London Short Prize for 1985. Berlin also won an American Book Award in 1991 for Homesick, and was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
