Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Collection
Review: T.C. Boyle is one of my favorite short story writers; he has a marvelously skewed view of life and his characters often find themselves in situations that the average human being encounters only in nightmares or drug-enduced reveries. He illuminates the basic truths of life in with an imagination that is unlike any other writer I've read. This collection spans the broad spectrum of his short stories; there is a little bit of everything here, love/hate, death, relationships, life in general. From the whimsical to the deadly serious, these stories will capture the imagination of the reader whose mind is open to them.
Rating:
Summary: Boyle Does Not Come Up Short
Review: T.C. Boyle is probably one of the greatest contemporary (and most under-read) American authors that we have. I have read many of Boyle's novels, and though while not being a fan of the short story genre, I thought I would give this massive collection of 70 short stories a try. If anything it has made me a greater fan of this talented author. Boyle excels in the shorter format bringing us tales that are highly imaginative. A warning to the Boyle uninitiated, these stories are very eccentric with a lot of dark humor throughout. Just when you think the author could not come up with a more a possibly more bizarre premise, he tops it in a later story.Boyle has a wonderful command of language and readers will be amazed by how he can created a total picture with minimal words. For example, in a story I read recently, he wrote "the house... seemed almost to sink under the weight of its mortgage." Boyle consistently creates this kind of amazing imagery throughout these stories. From full-body condoms to a struggling game safari in the California desert to a women who keeps squirrels as pets - it is almost guaranteed that you have never read anything as original or inventive as these Boyle stories. Do yourself a favor and pick up "T.C. Boyle Stories" -- and take your time and savor (I usually read a handful of stories between novels)!
Rating:
Summary: Boyle Does Not Come Up Short
Review: T.C. Boyle is probably one of the greatest contemporary (and most under-read) American authors that we have. I have read many of Boyle's novels, and though while not being a fan of the short story genre, I thought I would give this massive collection of 70 short stories a try. If anything it has made me a greater fan of this talented author. Boyle excels in the shorter format bringing us tales that are highly imaginative. A warning to the Boyle uninitiated, these stories are very eccentric with a lot of dark humor throughout. Just when you think the author could not come up with a more a possibly more bizarre premise, he tops it in a later story. Boyle has a wonderful command of language and readers will be amazed by how he can created a total picture with minimal words. For example, in a story I read recently, he wrote "the house... seemed almost to sink under the weight of its mortgage." Boyle consistently creates this kind of amazing imagery throughout these stories. From full-body condoms to a struggling game safari in the California desert to a women who keeps squirrels as pets - it is almost guaranteed that you have never read anything as original or inventive as these Boyle stories. Do yourself a favor and pick up "T.C. Boyle Stories" -- and take your time and savor (I usually read a handful of stories between novels)!
Rating:
Summary: T.C. Boyle at his best, many times over!
Review: The first book I read of Boyle's was Tortilla Curtain. I have been HOOKED ever since. I am not usually a fan of short stories, I tend to prefer novels for more at length character development and situations (blah blah blah). T.C. Boyle is amazing - you can get all of that in a ten page story! This is the best collection of short stories that I own and I re-read them many times over. I also bought two copies and gave them as gifts to friends whom have not read any Boyle. (And they were very impressed with the stories) You can't lose with this collection. His stories are full and rich with detail. They are great for bathtub reading, plane trips or when you don't have a lot of time. You can get an entire experience out of just a few pages and not feel cheated. The only other short stories I have enjoyed this much are those by Roald Dahl. So - that must say A LOT for T.C. Boyle!
Rating:
Summary: Modern stylism at its best
Review: There's no equal to T.C. Boyle when it comes to modern American style. You can tell a story any way you want, but this volume of his shorts shows that you can't do it any better than him. It's frightening the way these words seem to drip off his pen. Try his longer fiction, too -- Budding Prospects, or, for starters, Road to Wellville.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have for any Serious Reader
Review: This book is indispensable, and what's more, it will provide you with hours of thrilling, hilarious and heartbreaking reading. Broken up into three sections: Love, Death, And Everything In-between, "TCB Stories" is a single book that will sustain nearly any taste, because TCB is able to master so many disparate personas and styles in these stories. If you like smart, insanely well-written, exciting and bizarre, you will not be disappointed. But if you're looking for beauty, understatement, and heartbreak, you'll find that here too. Experiments in form? Stunning metaphors? Social commentary? Yes. Also quiet character-driven pieces, monologues, and love stories. Quite frankly, this book's got it all. Bring it with you on a road-trip, or backpacking in Europe and you won't need to pack anything else. You will revisit this book 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: A Must-Have for any Serious Reader
Review: This book is indispensable, and what's more, it will provide you with hours of thrilling, hilarious and heartbreaking reading. Broken up into three sections: Love, Death, And Everything In-between, "TCB Stories" is a single book that will sustain nearly any taste, because TCB is able to master so many disparate personas and styles in these stories. If you like smart, insanely well-written, exciting and bizarre, you will not be disappointed. But if you're looking for beauty, understatement, and heartbreak, you'll find that here too. Experiments in form? Stunning metaphors? Social commentary? Yes. Also quiet character-driven pieces, monologues, and love stories. Quite frankly, this book's got it all. Bring it with you on a road-trip, or backpacking in Europe and you won't need to pack anything else. You will revisit this book 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: Boyle Gets Under My Skin
Review: This collection of Boyle's fiction is big enough to make a great doorstop, but don't you dare use it that way! His muscular and sometimes head-spinning use of the English language is matched only by his wonderfully strange plot lines (full-body condoms in "Modern Love" or death by bee stings in "King Bee"). Sometimes he will make you sigh in the deep sadness of families torn apart by alcohol ("If the River Was Whiskey"), or laugh out loud with the viciousness of food critics ("Sorry Fugu"). Long after Boyle leaves this world, people will read his work. If you love great writing, buy this book. If you're an aspiring writer, devour this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent flow and playful with words
Review: This is an excellent collection of varied stories. All come at some different direction like dreams and continue in a fast pace. The unexpected will arrive and thrill you, knock you over and make you think of endless possibilities. His descriptions are as good as anyone who has held a pen. Read these stories for the authors play with words and often thrilling movement.
Rating:
Summary: Jack-Of-All-Trades Writer if I ever saw one
Review: Trying to characterize the works of Boyle is difficult in and of themselves. The man is a master of writing in just about any style he tries his hand at. And most of his stories are brilliant, fun reads, which is reportedly what the author himself desires from his own work. Boyle is best known as a satirist but never let it be said he can't or doesn't venture into other realms as well. Though many of his stories are satires--and very good ones at that--he is also able to construct deadly serious stories like "Drowning", "Rara Avis" and "Greasy Lake" where if there is any humor you're not likely to find it. Other stories, like "Bloodfall" are just plain strange and again, not really funny. But Boyle's humor really made this volume for me. He gleefully pokes fun at Presidential sex scandals long before any had ever heard of Monica Lewinski ("Ike and Nina"), hypochondriacs ("Modern Romance"), animal rights ("Carnal Knowledge"), the hollowness of national politics ("The New Moon Party"), and even religious ecstasy ("The Miracle of Balinspittle"). And "familiar faces" like Jack Kerouac, Carry Nation, Lassie, and Idi Amin show up to add to the absurdity of their own images being turned on edge. And other writers like Hemmingway and Kafka have their own works given unique retoolings. Boyle's range is so great, it's probably worth noting the closest he has to a reoccuring character is a chimp named Konrad ("The Descent of Man", "The Ape Lade in Retirment"), and even these two stories are as different from each other as night and day. Boyle's works are certainly worth a look.
|
