War By Candlelight

War By Candlelight (2005) is the second book I've read by Daniel Alarcon, however, this is a collection of short stories and leads me to believe that short fiction might be his forte. In fact I discovered Alarcon through his short stories that were included in a few editions of The Best American Nonrequired Reading. Perhaps, the thing that I think separates his stories from his novel, Lost City Radio, is that these stories are grounded in reality and specific places like Lima and New York City. I think Lost Radio City suffers in that it is a nonspecific Latin American country. Alarcon is Peruvian-American and his knowledge and experience is coursing through his work and I think it is important to bear witness to the struggles of Peru in the 80s and 90s, so that it is not forgotten or repeated. Alarcon does a good job of creating the atmosphere of a places especially the cities of New York and Lima. He is also adept at creating realistic believable characters in his stories. I don't think there was a weak story in the bunch, but I think some of the stories near the end were among my favorites: "The Visitor," "The Science for Being Alone," and "A Strong Dead Man." I think his inclusion in The New Yorker's Top 20 Writers Under 40 is well-earned. My only complaint with the Kindle version of the book is that it didn't include the PS extras that the print version has (which I always find enlightening and inspiring), so in the future I will only buy the print version of PS editions.