The Angel of Rome

And Other Stories

By: Jess Walter

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Julia Whelan

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions comes a stunning collection about those moments when everything changes—for the better, for the worse, for the outrageous—as a diverse cast of characters bounces from Italy to Idaho, questioning their roles in life and finding inspiration in the unlikeliest places.

We all live like we’re famous now, curating our social media presences, performing our identities, withholding those parts of ourselves we don’t want others to see. In this riveting collection of stories from acclaimed author Jess Walter, a teenage girl tries to live up to the image of her beautiful, missing mother. An elderly couple confronts the fiction writer eavesdropping on their conversation. A son must repeatedly come out to his senile father while looking for a place to care for the old man. A famous actor in recovery has a one-night stand with the world's most surprising film critic. And in the romantic title story, a shy twenty-one-year-old studying Latin in Rome during “the year of my reinvention” finds himself face-to-face with the Italian actress of his adolescent dreams.

Funny, poignant, and redemptive, this collection of short fiction offers a dazzling range of voices, backdrops, and situations. With his signature wit and bighearted approach to the darkest parts of humanity, Walter tackles the modern condition with a timeless touch, once again “solidifying his place in the contemporary canon as one of our most gifted builders of fictional worlds” (Esquire).

©2022 Jess Walter (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Humorous but Empty at Times

The Angel of Rome was definitely the most enjoyable story in the lot. Climate change, Never Trump-isms, no religion is good religion and it’s great to be gay, got old and overused throughout. The saddest parts, parts I thought, were the stories of the women who let worthless men rule their lives and how little they actually valued themselves. Overly simple and crude in the what women really want category, nevertheless a few of the stories were extremely humorous with excellent narration. Unfortunately there was a lot of emptiness in the characters, not all, but many.

Enjoyable

I love the freedom that short storage gives you. This collection does not disappoint. I preferred male narrators, and he is one of my favorites.

Overly liberal agenda

Orange man bad.
All R’s racist.
Gay rights only.
Gag. Could have been better.
At least Ballerini is great.

A surprise

An excellent collection of stories. Despite some obvious west coast political views (an obvious Oregon connection), there is nuance in these stories that makes them worthwhile. Excellent performance as well.

Wonderfully read short stories

The combination of Jess Walter, Edoardo Ballerini and Julia Whelan are hard to beat. There’s a little bit of everything in these stories and they made the time go fast.

Spokane

So great to go down memory lane in the Spokane settings. We were born and raised and still live there. Enjoyed all the topics and Jess’ take on them. Love his writing and humor. We enjoy the audios of all his books as we travel.

Jess Walter is a national treasure

Solid addition to the canon. Evocative, fun, and emotionally on point throughout. The Angel of Rome is the rightful centerpiece, reminiscent of Beautiful Ruins.

Very Human

Stories that showcase humanity with kindness, wit and insight. Great to hear on Audible. Some are bite size. Some are almost novellas.

Excellent collection!

Enjoyed each story. So unique from one another and all engaging! Loved every bit of it

Pure listening pleasure!

I found all of the stories engaging. The characters were beautifully developed and the plots intelligent, moving and sometimes hilarious. The art of short story writing (and telling) has not received the recognition it so deserves.