Excerpt from An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

The girl at work. I think English is her second language or possibly her third. She has a lisp and does crazy things with her hair. Her name is Deletia. I think it's the most beautiful name in the world.

Here's a secret. I wrote that down on a Post-it once—You have the most beautiful name in the world—and carried it stuck to the inside of a folder. All day I was hideously excited as I sat at my desk, roamed the corridors. Then I forgot about the note for a week. When I saw it again the words looked strange, like someone else had written them. Before throwing it away, I used the sticky edge to clean out the crevices of my keyboard.

* * *

I have two older brothers, whom I despise, and a younger sister, whom I adore. My brothers have always been exceedingly nice to me, including me in all manner of conversation and sport, yet I can't stand the sight of them. At least individually. When the three of us sons are together, my ill will dissipates somewhat, into a tan-colored mist of indifference. My sister, Grace, on the other hand, speaks sharply to me and expects me to do things like pick up her dry cleaning and find her cheap tickets to Cancún on the internet. I mean the real Cancún, not some virtual playa. But she's the baby of the family and I'm happy to oblige.

We children all live in the city, and gatherings are complicated for me. If it's me, my eldest brother, Dan, and my sister, I get argumentative the second I walk in, under the impression that he is picking on her, being the bully that he undoubtedly is. If it's me, my other brother, and my sister, I'll tell jokes nonstop, poorly thought-out jokes that hinge on antiquated wordplay. I'm trying to defuse the tension caused by the fact that this brother is a withholding control freak.

In fact, my brothers are exceedingly nice to my sister as well, and she does not speak sharply to them or expect them to run her errands. Sometimes I think she respects them because they make money and I don't, really. Or because their wives are elegant, capable women, and Tabby is something of an eccentric and a bit of a slob.

Once I was on a bus going crosstown and saw Grace and my brothers walking out of a restaurant, laughing. They looked gloriously happy. Dan posted a picture of their lunch on Facebook. I don't know what he was thinking.

Excerpted from An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park. Copyright © 2025 by Ed Park. Excerpted by permission of Random House. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.