Rating: 
Summary: Just discovering short stories.
Review: Quirky collection of stories that seems to capture a kind of regional-quality, that of California, and explores a cast of not-always-likeable characters that reveal more about you, the reader, than you may be entirely comfortable with. This always seems to be the way with the best contemporary short-stories these days, they have a tendancy to expose you through their character development, and pin you, squirming, until you realise that you're just like everyone else, with the same nasty streaks, the same lonliness, the same delusions or need for revenge... They weren't all original, some of them had predictable, if enjoyable endings, but the characters and detail make up for any plodding that you may have to do (and really, the stories are way to short to have to plod through). The other thing that I thought was very good about the collection was that they were all very self-contained, settings, characters and situations changed drastically, there wasn't much cross-over, which I found refreshing. My favourites were (one of the predictable ending ones) She Wasn't Soft, about a determined triathlete who's layed back surfer-dude boyfriend tries to do right by her with disastrous results, and the title story After the Plague, which drew me with its speculative, deserted world theme. This last was very good, in terms of vision and detail, but I found the ending disappointing. I'm only just discovering short stories, but I enjoyed this collection, and it hasn't scared me off. Warning: T.C. Boyle seems to be obsessed with Gore-tex and polypropelene, one or the other comes up in every story, and you feel like he's sneering at someone... bad subculture or outdoors experience?
Rating:
Summary: Unique View And Clever Pen
Review: T.C. Boyle's, "After The Plague", is a collection of 16 stories that range from clever observations that most of us don't see, to views on current events, and finally a few stories bordering on surreal.Some of the stories have plot lines that are not necessarily unique, however he has the ability to turn them around, to find a new angle, and establish a fresh perspective. Several are also much more haunting than they would have been a few months ago. "Friendly Skies", almost predicted the actions of a passenger on the news recently, and even though a scenario that is played out in, "After The Plague", is not at the forefront of people's minds, it certainly holds your attention in a manner it may not have a short time ago. Other stories like, "Termination Dust", bear no relation to what the title suggests. In this case the story takes place in Alaska, and is certainly a bit quirky, but the title represents something truly harmless. There is another tale, which is entitled in a manner that exactly fits the story it introduces. It deals with a controversy that has divided millions, it is blunt and powerful, however I defer mentioning the title here. One of the most entertaining stories is, "Black And White". A tale has never had a more accurate title. This view in to the world of two sisters displays eccentric and outrageous human behavior, and is arguably the most unique of the 16 stories. Read quickly it creates one tone, read with deliberation, the message is as opposite as the colors in the title. This is the first work I have read by this author, it will certainly not be the last. His stories may not appeal to all readers, but his flair with a pen, and documenting his view of life will be appreciated.
Rating: 
Summary: No Quarantining Boyle's Plague
Review: Taken as a whole, the sixteen stories in After the Plague go about their virulent work in two ways. First, there's the devastating attack on the body: Boyle's willingness to plunge deep into society's ever-festering issues, from abortion to violent crime. Next, there's the skewering assault on the brain: the author's sustained tour-de-force of technique, making each of his troubled protagonists seem more vivid than our own best friend, or worst enemy. The combination makes for informed storytelling that borders on extended prose-poetry. And it kills utterly. For "literary fiction" lovers looking for some strong poison, there's much to recommend by way of content in After the Plague. From an airplane carrying one passenger on the brink of "air rage" to the home of a bartender logged on to pornography, Boyle renders each of his contemporary settings with digital-sharp resolution - right down to the salty peanuts and explicit banner advertising. In these and other stories concerned with recent headlines, stories like "Killing Babies" and "The Love of My Life", Boyle always exposes the conflicted man or woman behind the sensationalistic misdeed. ("Another unwanted child in an overpopulated world?" muses one teenager in the latter story. "They should have given him a medal." You'll have to read it to discover what heroic act makes Jeremy so deserving.) Boyle often takes the tabloid as his starting point, only to create mature art that's the antithesis of schlock. But it's Boyle's craftsmanship, and specifically, his mastery of the close third person voice, that make After the Plague likely to outlive much of today's fiction. Consider this opening passage from "She Wasn't Soft", an account of one tri-athlete attempting to leap the hurdles of her competitors, her own body, and her indifferent, pot-smoking boyfriend. "She wasn't tender, she wasn't soft, she wasn't sweetly yielding or coquettish, and she was nobody's little woman and never would be. That had been her mother's role, and look at the sad sack of neuroses and alcoholic dysfunction she'd become." Note the "She", and not "I". But even as we meet Paula Turk through the perspective of a semi-detached narrator, we feel like we're getting a first-hand introduction. It's exhilarating to see a writer of so much political intelligence, so much stylistic exuberance, allow his less wise and less articulate characters "possess" him so fully on the page. Paula may not have the consummate vocabulary of Boyle. She probably doesn't possess the same gift for metaphor, or aptitude for prose rhythm. It's unlikely she'd describe herself this way. Only her author can do that, and while we're aware of Boyle's presence in every sly, subordinate clause, we're also intimately connected to the desperate ambition that is Paula Turk. Despite all his eloquence, Boyle is rarely swayed to speak *for* his characters. Rather, they almost always speak *through* him. Not every story is told from this perspective, and not all take the seedier segments of the 11 o'clock news as their departure point. Two are fanciful stories of love, one in its nascent stage ("The Underground Gardens") and the other in its final one ("My Widow"). Some stories are told in a convincing and poignant first person, like "Achates MacNeil," which relates a college student's bitter reunion with his famous, novelist father. All of the stories in After the Plague, however, blend riveting style with thoughtful substance. The two strains, acting together, are lethal. Like victims of an epidemic, readers may feel infected with something strange and powerful here: something cathartic and possibly deadly. With After the Plague, at least it feels good.
Rating: 
Summary: Literary theft
Review: The title story, "After the Plague," takes its plot directly from George Stewart's great novel, Earth Abides. No one can write like T. Coraghessan Boyle, but he should acknowledge that the idea for his story was not his own. He didn't even change the location.
Rating:
Summary: Boyle Survives "Plague"
Review: There is little doubt TC Boyle is among the finest American short story writers out there today. While Boyle has authored many notable and successful novels, his wonderfully unique and sardonic views of humanity seem to stay better afloat in the shorter form. As with his mammoth short story collection "TC Boyle Stories," these works are not for the conservative reader. In reading this latest collection, one needs no further evidence that Boyle is always thinking "outside the box." He gives readers a thrilling reading experience -- a true rarity in fiction these days! From a boyfriend's sadistically botched attempt to help out his girlfriend in a triathlon competition to a pair of senior citizens meeting a pitch-black humorous end in their backyard -- it is unlikely you have ever read anything like this before. Having attended a Boyle reading/book signing for this work in October 2001, the author admitted that works like "Friendly Skies" (about passenger "air rage") and the title story (a look at two surly survivors after Ebola wipes out much of the world as we know it) take on an unintentionally eerie spin in a post-September 11th world. For fans of the author, there is probably little need for any type of recommendation, but for the uninitiated "After The Plague and Other Stories" is certainly a worthwhile and entertaining introduction into the wild, and sometimes warped, world of TC Boyle.
Rating:
Summary: Boyle Survives "Plague"
Review: There is little doubt TC Boyle is among the finest American short story writers out there today. While Boyle has authored many notable and successful novels, his wonderfully unique and sardonic views of humanity seem to stay better afloat in the shorter form. As with his mammoth short story collection "TC Boyle Stories," these works are not for the conservative reader. In reading this latest collection, one needs no further evidence that Boyle is always thinking "outside the box." He gives readers a thrilling reading experience -- a true rarity in fiction these days! From a boyfriend's sadistically botched attempt to help out his girlfriend in a triathlon competition to a pair of senior citizens meeting a pitch-black humorous end in their backyard -- it is unlikely you have ever read anything like this before. Having attended a Boyle reading/book signing for this work in October 2001, the author admitted that works like "Friendly Skies" (about passenger "air rage") and the title story (a look at two surly survivors after Ebola wipes out much of the world as we know it) take on an unintentionally eerie spin in a post-September 11th world. For fans of the author, there is probably little need for any type of recommendation, but for the uninitiated "After The Plague and Other Stories" is certainly a worthwhile and entertaining introduction into the wild, and sometimes warped, world of TC Boyle.
Rating:
Summary: Sophisticated and Laugh-out-loud Funny
Review: What's so awesome about this collection is that not only will it tickle you pink if you're a voracious reader, but if you need something to give to the budding-intellectual in your life [graduation present, anyone?] this is the perfect gift. These stories are thrilling. Basically in every way. From the line-by-line unbelievable prose style, to the depth of the funny & heartbreaking characters, to the page-turning plot, these stories are weird and sad and, basically just thrilling. This is such a satisfying and great book. You will revisit it again and again, you will find yourself referencing it in conversations, and most importantly you will LOVE reading it. TCB understands that you don't ever have to sacrifice excitement in order to be serious lit or in order to have deep thematic undertones -- which means that you might not even notice the implications as you're breathlessly rushing through the plot . . . until you put it down and ponder and then it hits you: wow, these are brilliant on just about every level.
Rating:
Summary: Iron-clad irony but sometimes a bit irksome
Review: Yes, I do agree that Boyle is a master of his craft. He hits the right notes in his depiction of contemporary American anomie and the rather frustrating quest for meaning in a schizoid world. He knows much of this world pretty thoroughly; my favorite story was "The End of Cool" about an aging hippy who realizes his claim to fame is long gone. But after all is said and done, his characters are a bit lean to me. I want more substance, more fullness, more palpability. The knowing smile one gets from acknowledging the qwirks of his modernist and post-modernist personae does not last quite as long as I would like. Clever set-ups are not a substitute for substance. The other problem I have with the writing is that lots of Boyle's characters seem to have the same upscale, educated diction, whether they're recovering druggies, graduate students in lit-crit, or barflies. Still, a good time will be had, but I like stuff I can sink my intensity in.
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