Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely stunning!
Review: Absolutely stunning!This book is totally amazing. Bleak, funny and skewed, this is like Coen Brothers meet Flannery O'Conner: weird and upsetting, but skillfully crafted and surprisingly heartfelt. Each story offers it's own secrets up in sly ways: sometimes tragedy, sometimes satire, sometimes told straight, sometimes a playful joke - - once you start reading this collection, you won't be able to put it down. Even just the story titles alone are intriguing enough to prompt a closer look: Death of the Cool . . . She Wasn't Soft . . . Termination Dust. One of the best collections I've ever read, I put this up there with Tim O'Brian and Tobias Wolf: Boyle is a master storyteller and he spans such a wide range of topics and tones it is astonishing. But Boyle is also, always, entertaining and surprising. Two thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely stunning!
Review: Absolutely stunning! This book is totally amazing. Bleak, funny and skewed, this is like Coen Brothers meet Flannery O'Conner: weird and upsetting, but skillfully crafted and surprisingly heartfelt. Each story offers it's own secrets up in sly ways: sometimes tragedy, sometimes satire, sometimes told straight, sometimes a playful joke - - once you start reading this collection, you won't be able to put it down. Even just the story titles alone are intriguing enough to prompt a closer look: Death of the Cool . . . She Wasn't Soft . . . Termination Dust. One of the best collections I've ever read, I put this up there with Tim O'Brian and Tobias Wolf: Boyle is a master storyteller and he spans such a wide range of topics and tones it is astonishing. But Boyle is also, always, entertaining and surprising. Two thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: Cure for Writer's Block!
Review: Boyle is an even better writer of short stories than of novels. There is no "time delay" as you struggle to get used to a new protagonist and a new world; like Updike his sentences draw you right in and you're hooked.
But Boyle doesn't, like some contemporaries, write a "slice of life" that's all language and no story! His stories have plot and often twists, including a likeable narrator who morphs into a killer before out eyes, a pair of teenage lovers who kill their baby, and the title story, set in a California following a devastating plague. But the point is always the insight Boyle demonstrates through his vivid, compassionate writing.
Some of the stories are macabre and wickedly funny (Black and White Sisters, about a pair of eccentric women who have turned their whole world the color of old movies and spare no lengths to complete it; The Death of Cool about an aging tv producer), others are more poignant (Killing Babies, set in an abortion lab, Captured by the Indians, about a young grad student-wife struggling to come to terms with her husband and her future)-- all are inspiring.
Boyle's writing somehow makes the idea of writing accessible. Like Fred Astaire, he makes it look easy. He makes you want to sit down at the keyboard! So it's a must not only for readers but for all writers, too.
Rating:
Summary: Another Excellent Anthology
Review: I admire T.C. Boyle's short stories very much and appreciate his irony and the skewed world view he illustrates so well in his fiction. The quality of the stories in this collection did not disappoint me; however, I was disappointed to see at least two stories ("Mexico" and "The Love of My Life") that I had already read in previous versions of his works. But no matter; whether you are new to Boyle or a seasoned reader like me, if you are ready to take an off-centered look at the world, dive into Boyle. I think you'll really enjoy the trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Darkly funny stories!
Review: I enjoyed this short-story collection. Boyle uses a rather interesting brand of dark humor centered mostly on male characters. My favorite story is "Killing Babies." This story about an abortion doctor is the darkest one in the book. There are other great stories that enthralled me, like "Death of the Cool" and "Friendly Skies." I marvel at Boyle's crisp, sharp wit. I see that this author is known for writing historical novels -- but he's just as good as writing contemporary tales. This is an interesting collection. Give it a try if you are at all interested in black, earnest humor.
Rating:
Summary: Hate the characters, love the stories
Review: I hate most of the characters in these stories, and still can't put the book down. Boyle gets into the characters' heads, and no matter how weak-willed, whiny, self-centered, or just plain brutish the characters are, from their point of view their actions make perfect sense. Read these stories to see the world through some very flawed persons' eyes as they go through some truly traumatic events. The reader will often recognize that the characters bring these events upon themselves, while the characters remain without self-awareness. It is also worth reading just to try to figure out how Boyle can convey the characters' thoughts so clearly without being didactic.
Rating:
Summary: Boyle's Best Collection Yet
Review: I have always been a big Boyle fan, and most of these stories have already appeared in the New Yorker, but I have to say: in my opinion this is his best collection. The stories are shocking, contemporary, playful, funny and tragic -- typical Boyle at his finest. From the weirdness of 'The Black and White Sisters,' a twisted and sexy story about eccentric twins who will only surround themselves, in food, clothes, and company, with the colors black & white, which is surreal and funny and sad and has metaphorical echoes of old TV and grim newspapers, to 'She Wasn't Soft,' or 'Termination Dust,' both of which are creepy, heartbreaking suspense stories which focus as grim character pieces, Boyle had me hooked from page one. If you like unforgettable characters, strong plot and contemporary issues, this is a must read. Plus it's funny. Five Stars! Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: His best in recent memory, ripped from the headlines
Review: I read this book in two days, and it was a very enjoyable weekend. These stories aren't always happy, but the writing just flows. I normally don't read short stories, because I like to get to know a character, and the longer the book the better, (if it's good) But T.C. Boyle is so gifted a writer, he can take a few paragrahs and you are immersed in his story. The book even ends on a happy note, (as happy as you can expect in a T.C. Boyle book :) Don't wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Collection -- Don't Miss It!
Review: I'm more familiar with Boyle's silly Victorian epics, like The Road to Wellville and Riven Rock, so it was a surprise to me to see him writing short stories set in the present day. Still, the stories show a degree of thematic unity. "Termination Dust" is about a lonely Alaskan man driven insane with rage when the object of his affections is stolen away by a womanizing amputee. In "Killing Babies," an ex-con and recovering addict tries to clean up by working at his brother's abortion clinic, only to snap and bludgeon several protestors to death. "Mexico" tells the story of a timid, pudgy man who wins a vacation to Mexico but confines himself to the hotel bar. He puts the moves on a (...) female boxer, but loses all respect in her eyes when he gets mugged on the beach in front of her and fails to defend himself; incensed at his crappy luck, he gets roaring drunk and returns to the beach to tear the head off the first shady native he sees. "Death of the Cool" is the tale of a musical has-been who turns a gun on a burglar for mocking his failed career. By way of variety, the violent protagonist of "Friendly Skies" is a woman, who leaps on an obnoxious passenger and stabs him repeatedly in the face with a fork. The invariably violent climax to these stories swiftly becomes tiresome and difficult to believe, nor does it reveal any particularly profound truths about the men and women depicted. This is not to say there aren't some really good stories here, too. "The Love of My Life" is a cynical tale of the swift death of puppy love in the face of adversity. Two infatuated teens screw up and pay dearly, and learn just how much young love means (answer: not much) when the going gets rough. By contrast, "Rust" tells about the slow, agonizing death of an old couple after a backyard accident. Once passionate lovers who left their spouses to be with each other, they've outlived their love and fallen into infirmity and alcohol-soaked routine. "Going Down" is not terribly interesting in itself, but is a meta-story containing a fascinating pretend novel that I really, really wish existed. Reading during a snowstorm, the protagonist becomes so absorbed in the novel that he fails to notice his wife's absence, and when the cops show up at his door, he begs for them to wait until he can finish his book. The eponymous "After the Plague" is a post-apocalyptic love story whose cheery ending contrasts oddly, but refreshingly, with the other, infinitely grimmer pieces. (...).Plague is an inventive and entertaining collection of stories. Check it out! (...)
Rating:
Summary: Boyle does it again!
Review: Mr. Boyle has been one of my favorite authors for many years and this collection further strengthens my belief that he's one of the most important and clever writers at work today, including both the novel and short story form. This book picks up where the Collected Stories left off and doesn't miss a beat. His wit and creative juices have never been more prevalent than in these stories that first appeared in the New Yorker, GQ, and Playboy, among others. They range from a post-apocalyptic setting to the outskirts of civilization in Alaska, and Boyle's sharp satire and utterly engaging characters link all of the stories. Easily one of the best books of the year.
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