Synopses & Reviews
Hailed as one of the best short story writers of his generation, T.C. Boyle presents sixteen stories — nine of which appeared in The
New Yorker — that highlight the evolving excellence of his inventive, modern, and wickedly witty style. In
After the Plague, Boyle exhibits his maturing themes through an amazing array of subjects in a range of emotional keys.
He taps today's headlines, from air rage (Friendly Skies) to abortion doctors (Killing Babies), and delves into more naturalistic themes of quiet power and passion, from a tale of first love (The Love of My Life) to a story about confronting old age (Rust).
Combining joy and humor with the dark, intense scenarios that Boyle's audience has come to love, After the Plague reveals a writer at the top of his form.
Review
"Boyle's imagination and zeal for storytelling are in top form here, making this collection a smash." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Boyle is not only a master literary craftsman but also profoundly attuned to the here and now, writing with sharp wit, supple imagination, and acute emotional sensitivity about the peculiarities of our densely populated, technology addled, and precarious world....Observant, empathic, and fresh, Boyle's stories affirm literature's vital and abiding role in our culture as the lights flicker on and off and dot-coms fizzle and die." Donna Seaman, Booklist
Review
"Boyle's writing is up-front, his subjects plucked directly from everyday America, though uniquely displayed through his skewed lens. The result is a font of emotionally and culturally observant stories. After the Plague is no exception to this rule, and, indeed, offers some of Boyle's most richly attuned, darkly comic pieces to date." Ann Ellenbecker, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopsis
One of the acknowledged masters of the short story gives readers a gripping ride through narratives that shock, compel, and always entertain.
Few authors in America write with such sheer love of language and imagination as T.C. Boyle, and nowhere is that passion more evident than in his inventive, wickedly funny, and widely praised short stories. In After the Plague, Boyle speaks of contemporary social issues in a range of emotional keys. The 16 tales gathered here address everything from air rage to abortion doctors to first love and its consequences. The collection ends with the brilliant title story, a whimsical and imaginative vision of a disease-ravaged Earth. Presented with characteristic wit and intelligence, this collection will delight readers in search of the latest news of the chaotic, disturbing, and achingly beautiful world in which we live.
"Fine, vigorous short stories . . . this is a writer who can take you anywhere."--The New York Times
"Uproarious and unforgiving."--The New Yorker
"In an age of war where the foe is indistinct and difficult to identify, Boyle has become both the poet and the prophet of our time."--Los Angeles Times
"Reads like a flip through the A-section of the newspaper . . . a vivid collage of millennial American life."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Boyle's imagination and zeal for storytelling are in top form here."--Publishers Weekly
About the Author
T.C. Boyle is the author of eight novels and six short story collections, all available from Penguin. His 1987 novel, World's End, won the PEN/Faulkner Award. In 1999 he received the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. His short stories appear regularly in such magazines as The New Yorker, Granta, Esquire, and Playboy.