Michiko Takutani reviews Don DeLillo’s new book of short stories.
“The Angel Esmeralda,” the title story in Don DeLillo’s first ever collection of short fiction, is a dazzlingly told tale of despair and ruination, the dream of redemption and the testing of faith. Set in the Bronx and featuring a nun on the lookout for a miracle, this 1994 story prefigures portions of Mr. DeLillo’s 1997 masterwork, “Underworld,” but it also stands on its own as a beautifully realized and singular work of fiction.