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Powell's Staff: New Literature in Translation: December 2022 and January 2023 (0 comment)
It may be a new year, this may be a list of new books, but our love for literature in translation hasn’t changed at all, and we are so pleased to be enthusiastically recommending these recent releases. On this list, you’ll find a Spanish novel where controversy swirls around a Coca-Cola billboard...
Read More»
  • Kelsey Ford: From the Stacks: J. M. Ledgard's Submergence (0 comment)
  • Kelsey Ford: Five Book Friday: Year of the Rabbit (1 comment)

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The Harder They Come

by T.C. Boyle
The Harder They Come

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ISBN13: 9780062349378
ISBN10: 0062349376



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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

From New York Times bestselling author T.C. Boyle, a powerful, gripping novel that explores the roots of violence and anti-authoritarianism inherent In the American character

Set in contemporary Northern California, The Harder They Come explores the volatile connections between three damaged people — an aging ex-Marine and Vietnam veteran, his psychologically unstable son, and the son's paranoid, much-older lover — as they careen toward an explosive confrontation.

On a cruise to Central America, seventy-year-old Sten Stensen unflinchingly kills an armed robber menacing a busload of tourists. The reluctant hero is relieved to return home to Fort Bragg, California — only to find that his delusional son, Adam, has spiraled out of control.

Adam has become involved with Sara, a hardened member of a right-wing anarchist group that refuses to acknowledge the laws of the state. Adam's senior by some fifteen years, she becomes his protector and inamorata. As Adam's mental state fractures, he becomes increasingly delusional until a schizophrenic breakdown leads him to shoot two people. On the run, he takes to the woods, spurring the biggest manhunt in California history.

As T.C. Boyle explores a father's legacy of violence and his powerlessness in relating to his equally violent son, he offers unparalleled insights into the American psyche. Inspired by a true story, The Harder They Come is a devastating and indelible novel from a modern master.

Review

“The latest from a prolific and acclaimed novelist, The Harder They Come is a family saga that maps the relationships between the three people at its heart, as their potent mix of violence and paranoia urges them toward tragedy.” Huffington Post

Review

“...Boyle tellingly explores the anger, paranoia, and violence lurking in the shadowlands of the American psyche. A powerful and profoundly unsettling tale.” Library Journal (starred review)

Review

“This new work of fiction from Boyle presents a fractured threesome: a 70-year-old ex-Marine, his troubled son and the sons older girlfriend-a right-wing anarchist. A dark novel, The Harder They Come explores violence and the American psyche.” Houston Chronicle

Review

“T.C. Boyle again explores his favorite territory, the American psyche, in The Harder They Come, a gripping novel about an aging Vietnam vet and his mentally unstable son, out in April.” Tampa Bay Times

Review

“When precisely...does T.C. Boyle sleep? In the 35 years since his first book came out, Boyle has published 14 novels and more than 100 stories. The Harder They Come is the usual T.C. Boyle...circus of serious-minded zaniness.” The Millions

Review

“Boyle's...hypnotic narrative probes the complexities of heroism, violence, power, and resistance....Written with both clarity and compassion, each of the novels characters inhabits a rich and convincing private world. As they traverse a landscape none of them control, their haunting stories illuminate the violent American battle with otherness.” Publishers Weekly

Review

“Boyle has long been one of the most exciting and intelligent storytellers in the United States. His upcoming novel describes a mentally ill young man involved with a group of violent anarchists.” Washington Post

About the Author

T.C. Boyle is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the late 1970s, he has published fourteen novels and ten collections of short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1988 for his novel World's End, and the Prix Médicis étranger for The Tortilla Curtain in 1995, as well as the 2014 Henry David Thoreau award for excellence in nature writing. He is a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California and lives in Santa Barbara.

5 3

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Average customer rating 5 (3 comments)

`
Nancy London , June 03, 2015 (view all comments by Nancy London)
This book is disturbing and brilliant...the author's blade sharp depiction of a violent affluent Vietnam vet, his son who is everyone worst nightmare of a gun toting mentally unstable youth, his older lover who defies all authority...set in Mendocino with tourists floating in and out, a shining blue sea, and a 9 hole golf course, it's a ruthless portrait of the aftermath of war and the legacy of intergenerational violence

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t engle , April 25, 2015 (view all comments by t engle)
This is T. C. Boyle at his best. He puts us deep inside the minds of the three main characters. We feel their rage, their insanity, and their confusion. I think it is his best since Drop City.

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librariangie , March 28, 2015 (view all comments by librariangie )
Sounds intense, fascinating. Look forward to its release.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780062349378
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
03/31/2015
Publisher:
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
Pages:
384
Height:
10.00
Width:
6.50
Thickness:
1.25
Author:
T. C. Boyle
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Subject:
Psychological

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