Lucia Berlin

One of The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. International bestseller. A Manual for Cleaning Women compiles the best work of the legendary short-story writer Lucia Berlin. One of The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the Twenty-First Century and a classic of short fiction, Lucia Berlin's A Manual for Cleaning Women was a global sensation upon its publication in 2015, eleven years after its author's death. Largely unheralded throughout her peripatetic life, Berlin was a fiction writer of staggering, singular genius. With the grit of Raymond Carver, the humor of Grace Paley, and a blend of wit and melancholy all her own, Berlin crafted miracles from the everyday, uncovering moments of grace in the Laundromats and halfway houses of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Bay Area upper class, among switchboard operators and struggling mothers, hitchhikers and bad Christians. Written over the course of thirty years, the forty-three stories in A Manual for Cleaning Women--collected here in a 10th anniversary edition--are short fiction at its most unforgettable and original, told with unmistakable style by a master of the form.

At the time of her death in 2004, Lucia Berlin was known as a brilliant writer of short stories, beloved by other writers but never achieving wide readership or acclaim. That changed in 2015 with the publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women, a collection of some of her best work. Almost overnight, Lucia Berlin became an international bestseller as readers everywhere fell in love with her smoky, gin-soaked voice--at once dark and yearning, funny and wry, naive and wise.Love, Loosha is the extraordinary collection of letters between Lucia Berlin and her dear friend, the poet and Broadway lyricist Kenward Elmslie. Written between 1994 and 2004, their correspondence reveals the lives, work, and literary obsessions of two great American writers. Berlin and Elmslie discuss publishing and social trends, political correctness, and offending others and being offended. They gossip. They dish. They entertain--for not only are Elmslie and Berlin writing to each other, they are writing for each other.

«Descubrir a Lucia Berlin fue como dar con un alma gemela . -Pedro Almod var, Babelia Este volumen, preparado en exclusiva por su hijo Jeff Berlin para los lectores en espa ol, re ne quince relatos in ditos en nuestro idioma, diez de ellos publicados originalmente en sus libros de cuentos, pero no incluidos en Manual para mujeres de la limpieza ni en Una noche en el para so; algunos solo aparecidos en revistas, como el impactante «Suicidio , y otros totalmente in ditos, como «Manzanas , su primer cuento, y «Las aves del templo . Tambi n, una serie de reveladores art culos, ensayos --entre los que se encuentra «Bloqueada -- y extractos de sus diarios nunca publicados. Jeff Berlin nos brinda informaci n privilegiada sobre los textos y su g nesis, adem s de un breve recorrido final por la vida de Lucia. Como escribe Sara Mesa en el pr logo que abre este libro nico, «leer estos textos in ditos es asistir a la transustanciaci n de la vida en ficci n. ...] Un privilegio . La emoci n, la ternura, la iron a te ida de dolor y melancol a, la vida misma retratada con su estilo inconfundible, y los temas que le son tan propios: el amor, la maternidad, el sexo, la amistad y rivalidad entre mujeres, la literatura y, como nunca antes, la muerte se dan cita en estas p ginas que nos invitan a descubrir o redescubrir a quien, tras a os de injusto olvido, es hoy una autora de culto a la altura de Carver y Bukowski, reverenciada por la prensa, los libreros, los escritores y los lectores. «Lucia Berlin pas su vida en la oscuridad. Ahora se la reverencia como a un genio literario . -Brigit Katz, The New York Times ENGLISH DESCRIPTION "Reading Lucia Berlin was like discovering a kindred spirit." -Pedro Almod var, Babelia This volume, curated for Spanish-language readers by the author's son, Jeff Berlin, is a compilation of fifteen stories, ten published originally in short story collections but not included in Manual para mujeres de la limpieza The Cleaning Women's Manual] or Una noche en el para so A Night in Paradise]; some printed in magazines, including the powerful "Suicidio" Suicide]; and others not seen before, such as "Manzanas" Apples], her first story, and "Las aves del templo" The Temple Birds]. Complementing them is a selection of articles and essays, among them the revealing "Bloqueada" Blocked], and extracts of the author's never-before published diaries. Jeff Berlin provides insider information about the texts and their genesis, as well as a brief overview of Lucia's life. As Sara Mesa writes in her prologue to this unique collection, "reading these never-before published texts is to witness the transubstantiation of life into fiction ...] A privilege." Emotion, tenderness, irony tinged with pain and melancholy; life itself, recounted in Berlin's unmistakable style; and the topics characteristic of her writing - love, motherhood, sex, female friendships and rivalries, literature and, more than ever, death - come together in these pages, inviting us to discover (or rediscover, as the case may be) an author who, after years of undeserved neglect, now ranks as a cult figure the likes of Carver and Bukowski, revered by critics, booksellers, fellow writers and readers. "Lucia Berlin spent her life in obscurity. She is now recognized as a literary genius." - Brigit Katz, The New York Times

At the time of her death in 2004, Lucia Berlin was known as a brilliant writer of short stories, beloved by other writers but never achieving wide readership or acclaim. That changed in 2015 with the publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women, a collection of some of her best work. Almost overnight, Lucia Berlin became an international bestseller.Love, Loosha is the extraordinary collection of letters between Lucia Berlin and her dear friend, the poet and Broadway lyricist Kenward Elmslie. Written between 1994 and 2004, their correspondence reveals the lives, work, and literary obsessions of two great American writers. Berlin and Elmslie discuss publishing and social trends, political correctness, and offending others and being offended. They gossip. They dish. They entertain.Love, Loosha is an intimate conversation between two friends--one in which we are invited to participate, and one that will give fans of Lucia Berlin and Kenward Elmslie much pleasure and fresh insight into their lives and work.

One of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st CenturyThe world just goes along. Nothing much matters, you know? I mean really matters. but then sometimes, just for a second, you get this grace, this belief that it does matter, a whole lot.With an introduction from Lydia DavisLucia Berlin’s stories in A Manual for Cleaning Women make for one of the most remarkable unsung collections in twentieth-century American fiction.With extraordinary honesty and magnetism, Lucia Berlin invites us into her rich, itinerant life: the drink and the mess and the pain and the beauty and the moments of surprise and of grace, with a voice is witty, anarchic, compassionate, and completely unique.Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

En kvinne holder rundt det brennhete porselenet når hun rekker ektemannen kaffekoppen, med hanken vendt mot ham. En annen stryker mannens underbukser så den skal være varm når han kommer ut av dusjen. En tredje betrakter en gardin som tar fyr, og en fjerde dytter vaskerivogna foran postbudet - for å kjenne seg i live. Lucia Berlin skriver skakt og sanselig om barndom, ungdom, ekteskap og enslighet, fra Texas til Chile, Mexico til New York; steder der hun selv har bodd og levd. Vi møter barn i lek, kvinner i arbeid, frustrerte koner og distanserte ektemenn, hjemvendte krigsveteraner og apatiske alkoholikere, forelskede tenåringer og revolusjonær ungdom. Alle forsøker de å komme gjennom dagene. «Kveld i paradis» inneholder et kresent utvalg av 22 aldri tidligere oversatte noveller, skrevet med Lucia Berlins skarpe, empatiske blikk for det vakre i det stygge - i menneskene, i hverdagene, i livet. «Et litterært geni» NEW YORK TIMES «Lucia Berlin er i en klasse for seg ... Det er en gave å få tilgang til disse kloke, merkelige og livsbejaende novellene på norsk» HILDE SLÅTTO, VÅRT LAND «det er lenge siden jeg har lest en bok som lyser sterkere av sympati og trøst enn dette» ELIN KITTELSEN, KLASSEKAMPEN «språket hennes er som små eksplosjoner av liv» NADJA SPIEGELMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW «den ordknappe skrivemåten, de oppsiktsvekkende detaljene, de karakteristiske onelinerne eller gjentakelsene som borer seg inn i en. Berlins prosa fremstår som poesi og føles som memoarer» MAGGIE TRAPP, THE WASHINGTON POST

”Magnetisk kraft som består”Sydsvenskan”Novellerna av den länge bortglömda amerikanska författaren är lika vackra, livfulla och smärtsamma som de tidigare /.../ Det är autofiktion som upphöjer den (förvisso dramatiska) vardagen till stor konst.”Dagens Nyheter”Långt innan ordet autofiktion blev allmängods skrev hon om sitt liv i form av dramatiska, färgstarka noveller. Nu kommer ytterligare ett tjugotal, präglade av samma humor, klarsynthet och totala brist på sentimentalitet.”Ingalill Mosander, Aftonbladet Lucia Berlin, den bortglömda och bländande novellisten, slog ner som en bomb över världen när Farrar, Straus & Giroux samlade ihop författarskapet i en volym 2015. Så även hos oss. En enig kritikerkår jublade över Handbok förstäderskor, med omdömen som ”suverän” (DN), ”ett stycke strålande litteratur och liv” (Svenska Dagbladet), ”skriver kärvt om krisande människor, och gör det så bra att livet blir värt att leva” (Jönköpings-Posten).Handbok för städerskor innehöll drygt hälften av de sjuttiosju noveller som Berlin gav ut under sitt liv. Den nya, efterlängtade volymen Kväll i paradiset är ett noggrant urval ur den andra hälften, gjort av författarens son Jeff Berlin. Tjugotvå aldrig tidigare översatta noveller skrivna med den vakna blick för livets absurditeter och det vackra mitt i det fula som så många läsare kommit att älska.Volymen innehåller också Välkommen hem: en självbiografi. Mot slutet av sitt liv arbetade Lucia Berlin på en serie självbiografiska skisser som sträckte sig från 1936 och fram till 1966. Jeff Berlin har färdigställt materialet, som också innehåller brev och foton. Detta är historien om Lucia Berlins liv, så som hon själv ville berätta den.”Tonen känns igen från den förra samlingen: den poetiska skärpan, humorn och melankolin. Hur de sjaskiga miljöerna som skildras - fulla av missbruk, våld och nöd - inte på något sätt romantiseras men ändå blir liksom inifrån upplysta.”Sydsvenskan”Återigen är hennes berättarförmåga oerhört drabbande.”Bäst just nu, Nöjesguiden”Det är bland annat denna sammansmältning av djup förtvivlan och underliggande mörk humor, av socialrealism och dekadens, som gör Lucia Berlin så speciell. Det är som om hon mitt i all misär har ett ständigt höjt ögonbryn, som om det alltid finns en förförisk jazzslinga någonstans i bakgrunden.”Expressen”Berlins berättelser fångar ett amerikanskt 1900-tal strax bredvid den äppelkäcka optimismen, platserna där spriten flödar, där allt är i ständig rörelse - mer av nödvändighet än av framtidstro. De flesta av dem är underbart krassa, vissa absurda och roliga. Ljuvliga för att de också är så sorgliga. Berättar om allt buller och bång som människorna ägnar sig åt att för överrösta smärtan, men så skär den ändå rakt igenom.”Svenska Dagbladet

'Evocative . . . poignant . . . acute and funny' Observer'The Revival of the Great Lucia Berlin Continues Apace' New York TimesBest known for her short fiction, it was upon publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women in 2015 that Lucia Berlin’s status as a great American writer was widely celebrated. To populate her stories – the places, relationships, the sentiments – Berlin often drew on her own rich, itinerant life. Before Berlin died, she was working on a book of previously unpublished autobiographical sketches called Welcome Home. The work consisted of more than twenty chapters that started in 1936 in Alaska and ended (prematurely) in 1966 in southern Mexico. In our publication of Welcome Home, her son Jeff Berlin is filling in the gaps with photos and letters from her eventful, romantic, and tragic life.From Alaska to Argentina, Kentucky to Mexico, New York City to Chile, Berlin’s world was wide. And the writing here is, as we’ve come to expect, dazzling. She describes the places she lived and the people she knew with all the style and wit and heart and humour that readers fell in love with in her stories.

Kuka Lucia Berlin todella oli?Lucia Berlinin elämäkerrassa nousevat esiin kuvaukset paikoista, tapahtumista ja ihmisistä, jotka ovat tuttuja hänen novelleistaan. Berlin alkoi työstää omaelämäkertaa ennen kuolemaansa, minkä jälkeen kirjan viimeisteli hänen poikansa Jeff Berlin. Tuloksena on vaikuttava teos, joka koostuu Lucia Berlinin itse kirjoittamista teksteistä, hänen kirjeenvaihdostaan ja valokuvista vuosien varrelta.Alaskasta Argentiinaan, Kentuckysta Meksikoon ja New Yorkista Chileen - Lucia Berlinin lapsuudessa ja aikuisuudessa asuinpaikat vaihtuivat tiheään eikä vastoinkäymisiltä vältytty. Berlin kuvailee lapsuuden ja aikuisuuden kotipaikkojaan, tapahtumia ja tuntemiaan ihmisiä novelleistaan tutulla terävyydellä, herkkyydellä, huumorilla ja lämmöllä. Kotiinpaluu tarjoaa herkullisen taustan Berlinin lyhytproosalle, ja sen omaelämäkerralliset katkelmat ovat yhtä häikäiseviä, tunnelmallisia ja aitoja kuin hänen novellinsakin.Lucia Berlin (1936-2004) oli yhdysvaltalainen kirjailija, kirjallisuuden opettaja, äiti, alkoholisti, yksinhuoltaja ja sisukas nainen. Berlin oli jo eläessään pienen piirin arvostama kirjailija. Vuonna 2015 postuumisti julkaistu novellikokoelma Siivoojan käsikirja nosti Berlinin suuren yleisön tietoisuuteen ja hurmasi kaikki.Berlinin äiti ja isoisä kärsivät molemmat alkoholismista. Berlin oli ennen kolmeakymmentä ikävuotta ollut kolmesti naimisissa ja synnyttänyt neljä lasta. Nuorena aikuisena hän sairastui itsekin alkoholismiin. Jäätyään yksinhuoltajaksi Berlin elätti itsensä ja poikansa satunnaisilla töillä. Viimeisinä työvuosinaan hän toimi luovan kirjoittamisen professorina Boulderin yliopistossa Coloradossa.Lucia Berlinin kaikki julkaistut novellit ovat ilmestyneet suomeksi teoksissa, Siivoojan käsikirja, Tanssia ruusuilla ja Ilta paratiisissa.”Lucia Berlinin fiktion juurien jäljittäminen tosielämään on äärimmäisen nautinnollista.”- Los Angeles Times”Kotiinpaluussa Berlinin itsereflektoiva ja raadollisen rehellinen ääni ryöppyää lukijan mieleen.”- Publishers WeeKlyLucia Berlinin novelleista sanottua:“Berlinin novellit itkettävät, naurattavat ja ravitsevat sielua eri tavalla kuin mikään muu.”- Me Naiset”Huikaisevaa tarkkanäköisyyttä ja kierrepallon lailla osuvia ilmauksia.”- Arla Kanerva, Helsingin Sanomat“Silkkaa sielunhoitoa.”- Anna”Lucia Berlin oli siivooja ja alkoholisti, joka kirjoitti kuin enkeli.”- Suvi Ahola, Helsingin Sanomat“Unohdin, missä olin. Nauroin ääneen. Itkinkin.”- Kodin Kuvalehti“Lucia Berlinin kertomuksissa valot ja varjot vuorottelevat, ja elämän pulssi sykkii vahvana silloinkin kun novellihenkilöt ovat heikossa hapessa. Berlin on terävä, mutta ei ilkeä.”- Reader why did I marry him? -blogi

"Berlin probably deserved a Pulitzer Prize." --Dwight Garner, The New York TimesNew York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. Named one of the Best Books of 2018 by The Boston Globe, Kirkus, and Lit Hub. Named a Fall Read by Buzzfeed, ELLE, TIME, Nylon, The Boston Globe, Vulture, Newsday, HuffPost, Bustle, The A.V. Club, The Millions, BUST, Reinfery29, Fast Company and MyDomaine. A collection of previously uncompiled stories from the short-story master and literary sensation Lucia Berlin In 2015, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 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. The book's author, Lucia Berlin, earned comparisons to Raymond Carver, Grace Paley, Alice Munro, and Anton Chekhov. Evening in Paradise is a careful selection from Berlin's remaining stories--twenty-two gems that showcase the gritty glamour that made readers fall in love with her. From Texas to Chile, Mexico to New York City, Berlin finds beauty in the darkest places and darkness in the seemingly pristine. Evening in Paradise is an essential piece of Berlin's oeuvre, a jewel-box follow-up for new and old fans.

"As the case with her fiction, Berlin's pieces here are as faceted as the brightest diamond." --Kristin Iversen, NYLONNEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE. Named a Fall Read by Buzzfeed, Vulture, Newsday and HuffPostA compilation of sketches, photographs, and letters, Welcome Home is an essential nonfiction companion to the stories by Lucia Berlin Before Lucia Berlin died, she was working on a book of previously unpublished autobiographical sketches called Welcome Home. The work consisted of more than twenty chapters that started in 1936 in Alaska and ended (prematurely) in 1966 in southern Mexico. In our publication of Welcome Home, her son Jeff Berlin is filling in the gaps with photos and letters from her eventful, romantic, and tragic life. From Alaska to Argentina, Kentucky to Mexico, New York City to Chile, Berlin's world was wide. And the writing here is, as we've come to expect, dazzling. She describes the places she lived and the people she knew with all the style and wit and heart and humor that readers fell in love with in her stories. Combined with letters from and photos of friends and lovers, Welcome Home is an essential nonfiction companion to A Manual for Cleaning Women and Evening in Paradise.

The chance to join 'the Revival of the Great Lucia Berlin' (New York Times)From the author of A Manual for Cleaning Women.Ranging from Texas, to Chile, to New Mexico and New York, in Evening in Paradise Berlin writes about the good, the bad and everything in between: struggling young mothers, husbands who pack their bags and leave in the middle of the night, wives looking back at their first marriage from the distance of their second . . .The publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin’s dazzling collection of short stories, marked the rediscovery of a writer whose talent had gone unremarked by many. The incredible reaction to Lucia’s writing – her ability to capture the beauty and ugliness that coexist in everyday lives, the extraordinary honesty and magnetism with which she draws on her own history to breathe life into her characters – included calls for her contribution to American literature to be as celebrated as that of Raymond Carver.Evening in Paradise is a careful selection from Lucia Berlin’s remaining stories – a jewel-box follow-up for her hungry fans.

Tanssia ruusuilla on jatkoa syksyllä 2017 suomeksi julkaistulle Siivoojan käsikirjalle, joka sai lukijoilta ja kriitikoilta hurmioituneen vastaanoton. Kokoelman odotettu toinen osa Tanssia ruusuilla tarjoaa nautinnollisen paketin Lucia Berlinin teräviä havaintoja elämän säröistä, säihkeestä sekä sisusta ja huumorista, jotka kannattelevat elämän isoissa ja pienissä myrskyissä.Lucia Berlin (1936-2004) oli yhdysvaltalainen kirjailija, kirjallisuuden opettaja, äiti, alkoholisti, yksinhuoltaja ja sisukas nainen. Berlin ammensi kertomuksiinsa omasta lapsuudestaan Yhdysvaltojen kaivoskaupungeissa, yltäkylläisistä teinivuosistaan Chilen Santiagossa, kolmesta epäonnistuneesta avioliitostaan, elämänmittaisesta kamppailustaan alkoholismin kanssa sekä Kaliforniassa, New Mexicossa ja Meksikossa viettämistään vuosista ja niistä monista työpaikoista, joilla hän elätti itsensä ja neljä poikaansa.”Vuoden käännöstapaus! Lucia Berlinin kertomuksissa valot ja varjot vuorottelevat, ja elämän pulssi sykkii vahvana silloinkin kun novellihenkilöt ovat heikossa hapessa. Berlin on terävä, mutta ei ilkeä.” Reader why did I marry him? -blogi

'The chance to join "the Revival of the Great Lucia Berlin"' New York Times'Raw, elliptical, devilishly funny tales' ObserverRanging from Texas, to Chile, to New Mexico and New York, in Evening in Paradise Berlin writes about the good, the bad and everything in between: struggling young mothers, husbands who pack their bags and leave in the middle of the night, wives looking back at their first marriage from the distance of their second . . .The publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin’s dazzling collection of short stories, marked the rediscovery of a writer whose talent had gone unremarked by many. The incredible reaction to Lucia’s writing – her ability to capture the beauty and ugliness that coexist in everyday lives, the extraordinary honesty and magnetism with which she draws on her own history to breathe life into her characters – included calls for her contribution to American literature to be as celebrated as that of Raymond Carver.Evening in Paradise is a careful selection from Lucia Berlin’s remaining stories – a jewel-box follow-up for her hungry fans.