Charles D. Ambrosio Livres

Charles D’Ambrosio’s essay collection Orphans spawned something of a cult following. In the decade since the tiny limited-edition volume sold out its print run, its devotees have pressed it upon their friends, students, and colleagues, only to find themselves begging for their copy’s safe return. For anyone familiar with D’Ambrosio’s writing, this enthusiasm should come as no surprise. His work is exacting and emotionally generous, often as funny as it is devastating. Loitering gathers those eleven original essays with new and previously uncollected work so that a broader audience might discover one of our great living essayists. No matter his subject — Native American whaling, a Pentecostal “hell house,” Mary Kay Letourneau, the work of J. D. Salinger, or, most often, his own family — D’Ambrosio approaches each piece with a singular voice and point of view; each essay, while unique and surprising, is unmistakably his own.

Charles D'Ambrosio's essay collection Orphans spawned something of a cult following. In the decade since the tiny limited-edition volume sold out its print run, its devotees have pressed it upon their friends, students, and colleagues, only to find themselves begging for their copy's safe return. For anyone familiar with D'Ambrosio's writing, this enthusiasm should come as no surprise. His work is exacting and emotionally generous, often as funny as it is devastating. Loitering gathers those eleven original essays with new and previously uncollected work so that a broader audience might discover one of the world's great living essayists. No matter his subject—Native American whaling, a Pentecostal 'hell house', Mary Kay Letourneau, the work of J. D. Salinger, or, most often, his own family—D'Ambrosio approaches each piece with a singular voice and point of view; each essay, while unique and surprising, is unmistakably his own.

D'Ambrosio, Charles: Ihr wirklicher Name, Short Stories, Aus dem Amerikanischen von Brigitte Walitzek, Berlin, Berlin Verlag 1995, 216 S.

Es gibt kaum eine Figur in D'Ambrosios Kurzgeschichten, deren Herz nicht gebrochen wäre - das des erfolgreichen Drehbuchautors, der sich in der Psychiatrie verliebt, das des Schriftstellers, der als Handwerker in der Pornofilmproduktion gelandet ist, das des reichen Erben, der im Indianerreservat an der Pazifikküste die Asche seines Großvaters verstreuen will. Und doch gibt es immer noch einen Rest Liebe in den gebrochenen Herzen, manchmal sogar Platz für ein kleines Schmunzeln. In rauschhaften Naturbeschreibungen stehen bei D'Ambrosio Paarung und Verwesung gleich nebeneinander und spiegeln die großen Hoffnungen und Enttäuschungen der Menschen - dieser verwundeten Wesen. Mit einem zarten Gespür für Poesie beschwört D'Ambrosio ihre bösen Geister herauf, bis sie in ihrer ganzen Schönheit vor uns stehen. Das Leben der Figuren dieses Autors ist zerbrechlich, voller Kratzer, Sprünge, Risse. Ganz vorsichtig überantwortet D'Ambrosio uns ihre Geschichten. Wir müssen sie beschützen.