
The House of Broken Angels
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Narrated by:
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Luis Alberto Urrea
About this listen
In this "raucous, moving, and necessary" story by a Pulitzer Prize finalist (San Francisco Chronicle), the De La Cruzes, a family on the Mexican-American border, celebrate two of their most beloved relatives during a joyous and bittersweet weekend.
"All we do, mija, is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death."
In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly 100, dies, transforming the weekend into a farewell doubleheader. Among the guests is Big Angel's half brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo, shared a life.
Across two bittersweet days in their San Diego neighborhood, the revelers mingle among the palm trees and cacti, celebrating the lives of Big Angel and his mother, and recounting the many inspiring tales that have passed into family lore, the acts both ordinary and heroic that brought these citizens to a fraught and sublime country and allowed them to flourish in the land they have come to call home.
Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels is Luis Alberto Urrea at his best, and cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank.
"Epic...Rambunctious...Highly entertaining." (New York Times Book Review)
"Intimate and touching...the stuff of legend." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"An immensely charming and moving tale." (Boston Globe)
National Bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist
A New York Times Notable Book
One of the Best Books of the Year from National Public Radio, American Library Association, San Francisco Chronicle, BookPage, Newsday, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Literary Hub
©2018 Luis Alberto Urrea (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Luis Alberto Urrea's The House of Broken Angels is a vivid portrait of one Mexican-American family in San Diego and the complexities of immigration and heritage. The patriarch of the De La Cruz family decides to throw a huge birthday party in the last days of his life, but his mother also dies in the days leading up to the event, leading to a bittersweet celebration of both of their lives and their family's legacy." (Jarry Lee, Buzzfeed)
"Exuberant...Urrea has written a vital, vibrant book about the immigrant experience that is a messy celebration of life's common joys and sorrows." (Publishers Weekly)
"This, the most personal book by the great American novelist Luis Alberto Urrea, is one of the most vivid and engrossing family epics of the last 20 years." (Dave Eggers, National Book Award finalist and New York Times best-selling author of The Circle)
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In May 2001, a group of men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadliest region of the continent, the "Devil's Highway." Three years later, Luis Alberto Urrea wrote about what happened to them. The result was a national bestseller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a "book of the year" in multiple newspapers, and a work proclaimed as a modern American classic.
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-
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- A Novel
- By: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Narrated by: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1889, and civil war is brewing in Mexico. A 16-year-old girl, Teresita, illegitimate but beloved daughter of the wealthy and powerful rancher Don Tomas Urrea, wakes from the strangest dream, a dream that she has died. Only it was not a dream. This passionate and rebellious young woman has arisen from death with the power to heal, but it will take all her faith to endure the trials that await her and her family now that she has become the "Saint of Cabora".
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In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle.
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- By: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Narrated by: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Examining the borders between one nation and another, between one person and another, Urrea reveals his mastery of the short form. This collection includes the Edgar-award winning "Amapola" and his now-classic "Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses," which had the honor of being chosen for NPR's "Selected Shorts" not once but twice.
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Luis Alberto Urrea is the Chicano Mark Twain
- By Jaziel Gonzalez on 03-02-19
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Crying in the Bathroom
- A Memoir
- By: Erika L. Sánchez
- Narrated by: Erika L. Sánchez
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants in Chicago in the nineties, Erika Sánchez was a self-described pariah, misfit, and disappointment—a foul-mouthed, melancholic rabble-rouser who painted her nails black but also loved comedy, often laughing so hard with her friends that she had to leave her school classroom. Twenty-five years later, she’s now an award-winning novelist, poet, and essayist, but she’s still got an irrepressible laugh, an acerbic wit, and singular powers of perception about the world around her.
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I cried
- By Veronica Castellanos on 08-13-23
By: Erika L. Sánchez
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Too Soon for Adiós
- By: Annette Chavez Macias
- Narrated by: Luzma Ortiz
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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No one expects to meet their father at their mother’s funeral. But for Gabby Medina, that’s exactly what happens. Her dad abandoned her when she was a baby, and now he’s back. And he wants to give her a house. Gabby doesn’t want the house—or him. But she could use the money. So Gabby agrees to take it under two conditions: First, she can sell the house whenever she wants. Second, accepting it doesn’t mean she accepts him.
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relatable
- By Jessica on 04-23-23
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Big Chicas Don't Cry
- By: Annette Chavez Macias
- Narrated by: Vanessa Vasquez, Alessandra Manon, Aida Reluzco, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Cousins Mari, Erica, Selena, and Gracie are inseparable. They aren’t just family but best friends—sharing secrets, traditions, and a fierce love for their abuelita. But their idyllic childhood ends when Mari’s parents divorce, forcing her to move away. With Mari gone, the girls’ tight-knit bond unravels.
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Painfully boring..
- By Monica Serrano on 09-24-22
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
- By: Erika L. Sánchez
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents' house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga's role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.
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FOR LATINAS WHO ARE OFTEN TOLD THEY "SOUND WHITE"
- By Alex on 12-14-18
By: Erika L. Sánchez
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City of Night Birds
- A Novel
- By: Juhea Kim
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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On a White Night in 2019, prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg two years after a devastating accident that stalled her career. Once the most celebrated dancer of her generation, she now turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past. She is unmoored in her old city as the ghosts of her former life begin to resurface: her loving but difficult mother, her absentee father, and the two gifted dancers who led to her downfall. One of those dancers, Alexander, is the love of her life, who transformed both Natalia and her art.
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just boring
- By Dana on 12-13-24
By: Juhea Kim
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The Murmur of Bees
- By: Sofia Segovia, Simon Bruni - translator
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can - visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous.
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One of the best books I listened to ever!
- By Vmcg on 05-11-19
By: Sofia Segovia, and others
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In the Time of the Butterflies
- By: Julia Alvarez
- Narrated by: Noemi de la Puente, Alma Cuervo, Bianca Carnacho, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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It is November 25, 1960, and the bodies of three beautiful, convent-educated sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. El Caribe, the official newspaper, reports their deaths as an accident. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of General Raphael Leonidas Trujillo's dictatorship.
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Maybe it's just me but...
- By Sarah PK on 03-05-16
By: Julia Alvarez
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There There
- A Novel
- By: Tommy Orange
- Narrated by: Darrell Dennis, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Alma Ceurvo, and others
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle's death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle's memory. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and will perform in public for the very first time. There will be glorious communion and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and loss.
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Highly recommend.
- By Rachel S on 07-09-18
By: Tommy Orange
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The Bluest Eye
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the story of 11-year-old Pecola Breedlove--a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others--who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning and the tragedy of its fulfillment.
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Amazing
- By psiegler on 07-25-18
By: Toni Morrison
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Real Americans
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Khong
- Narrated by: Louisa Zhu, Eric Yang, Eunice Wong
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
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STELLAR STORYTELLING
- By Brenda C. on 05-02-24
By: Rachel Khong
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Wellness
- A Novel
- By: Nathan Hill
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the gritty '90s Chicago art scene, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in the thriving underground scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to suburban married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter the often-baffling pursuits of health and happiness from polyamorous would-be suitors to home-renovation hysteria.
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you have to believe it'll work
- By Alex halladay on 09-22-23
By: Nathan Hill
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Horse
- A Novel
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: James Fouhey, Lisa Flanagan, Graham Halstead, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.
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Love Geraldine Brooks
- By Regina on 06-25-22
By: Geraldine Brooks
What listeners say about The House of Broken Angels
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- Rebecca
- 03-26-18
absolutely love the journey !
Although the story and characters are fictional, knowing the authors background you cant help but place your own family in some of these situations. being from a family ok the frontera we know some of these situations all too well. thank you Luis Alberto Urrea for this amazing story.
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6 people found this helpful
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- LyfebyJCW
- 04-05-18
Excellent book - highly recommend
Really enjoyed this book. The story was solid and engaging to keep me coming back. More importantly, the writing was fantastic, beautiful and vivid. Having the author read it added even greater depth and authenticity. Helped bring the book to life.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-03-18
Brilliant
Brilliant story crafting and brilliant story telling. Urrea's narration makes the story come to life.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lacey
- 07-31-19
Started really slow, but got better
So many characters, it was hard to follow at times. It started really slow, I almost stopped listening. But, I'm glad I continued because I actually liked it in the end.
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1 person found this helpful
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- KDB
- 01-17-19
I was so sad the book ended...
This book was a book club selection, and I’m so glad that it was! I commute about 30 minutes each way, to and from work every day, and since I can’t read while driving, it’s easy to listen to books and spend that time well, when in the car. I loved that the author was also the narrator, and that made the story feel very real, and created a more personal experience for me. I felt almost like I was there, as the story happened, because of the delightfully detailed descriptions, conversations among the characters, and inner thoughts of Big Angel.
I hope the story will be continued somehow, and will definitely be reading/listening to more by Urrea, in the future.
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- Lissa Goldman
- 09-17-19
Incredible!!
It took me more than halfway through this book to really get into it and appreciate the genius of the story. The author’s narration added so much. It was like a play with all the different characters. Simply genius.
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- FernT
- 11-22-20
Great story!
I really enjoyed this rambling,rich family extravaganza. Tha performance by the author is outstanding. A fun and rewarding listen
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- Buzz
- 02-13-20
So fun. So charming.
I loved it. I’m sorry it’s over. I listen to it slowly to make it last.
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- JHanks
- 11-09-19
Engaging performance
I can’t imagine trying to read this from a book. The author is a wonderful story teller and really made this great and emotional entertainment. I wish my high school Spanish was better! Reminds you that all families are messy.
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- vivalizvega
- 02-15-19
I cried, I laughed, I loved
The House of Broken Angels is an masterpiece! It is a modern day Latino 100 years of Solitude but way more accessible. Urrea’s stories capture the intricacies of being from two countries but not really feeling wholly of either. The love and dysfunction of families is depicted beautifully. Can’t live with them can’t live without them. I read a lot and very few times have I seen my own story reflected so accurately. here were the crane asadas with my family, the neighbors I grew up with as well as the never-ending list of uncles, aunts and cousins. I don’t know much about Urrea but at his core, he must be a poet and in love with words. This book is to be read and savored for the beauty and philosophy he captures with so much simplicity. However, you must also listen to him narrate it because he is a master and the characters come alive with his narration. I found myself laughing like an idiot and thinking of these people as my own family....how I want to eat pancakes with the Satanic Hispanic, the lead singer of a faux Norwegian heavy metal band. I have always wanted to write the story of my family partly because I thought it was so crazy and different...I am reassured to see how alike some of our experiences as U. S. Latinos are and it feels good that someone is finally telling our stories.
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