And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars..., Ilan Stavans
And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars..., Ilan Stavans
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again
Writers from Around the World on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author: Ilan Stavans

Narrator: Raechel Wong

Unabridged: 11 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/13/2021

Synopsis

As our world is transformed by the coronavirus pandemic, writers offer a powerful antidote to the fearful confines of isolation: a window onto lives and corners of the world beyond our own. In Mauritius, a journalist contends with denialism and mourns the last days of summer, lost to the lockdown. In Paris, a writer struggles to protect his young son from fear. In Chile, protesters who prevailed against tear gas and rubber bullets are now halted by a virus. In Queens, after thirteen-hour shifts in the ER, a doctor dons running shoes and makes the long jog home.

And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again takes its title from the last line of Dante's Inferno, when the poet and his guide emerge from hell to once again behold the beauty of the heavens. In that spirit, the stories, essays, and poems in this collection—from beloved authors including Jhumpa Lahiri, Mario Vargas Llosa, Eavan Boland, Daniel Alarcón, Jon Lee Anderson, Claire Messud, Ariel Dorfman, and many more—detail the harrowing experiences of life in the pandemic, while pointing toward a less isolated future. Together they comprise a profound global portrait of the defining moment of our time, and send a clarion call for solidarity across borders.

About Ilan Stavans

Ilan Stavans is the publisher of Restless Books and the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities, Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include On Borrowed Words, Spanglish, Dictionary Days, The Disappearance, and A Critic's Journey.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jypsy on October 04, 2020

Thank you Restless Books for a complimentary copy! I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own. I have become a big fan of anthologies of all kinds over the last year. And We Came Outside And Saw The Stars Again ranks among my all time favorites. I am drawn to collections fea......more

Goodreads review by Marci on December 31, 2020

Short stories, essays, and poems about or inspired by the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The contributions are from all over the world. Most are well-written and some are downright absorbing. The collection gave me the human story that my news and online sources were not giving me.......more

Goodreads review by Christine on December 31, 2021

Very of-the-moment but a narrow in the scope of the prospective. It represents a very high brow/ high society voice through much of the book. It sets out to be wholly representative and while the stories represent different cultures from all over the world, the social status represented is heterogen......more

Goodreads review by Sandra on September 05, 2020

And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again compiled by Restless Books Publisher, Ilan Stavans was a very interesting collection of essays based on the world quarantine due to Covid-19. Each International Author created a unique view of what was happening on their part of the Earth. I really found th......more

Goodreads review by Sue on May 30, 2023

This anthology of writings from the early days of COVID is wonderful. Stavans has gathered articles, essays, poems, and short stories from writers around the world. It is enlightening to read what people in other countries were doing and feeling in spring 2020. We hear from people who worked in emer......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List