“Wild Child” by T.C. Boyle

words

Within just a few lines a whole life is revealed.

T.C. Boyle’s strength is his ability to focus on the tiny stitches that give prize to the complete tapestry. His characters leap to life and make a lasting impression, no matter how minor their role in the story.

A point of style that attracts me again and again to Boyle’s writing is the ironic “twists” that he integrates, linking in one simple sentence seemingly separate characters – or indeed stories, which until that moment had no apparent connection. In addition, Boyle is able to tell a story where the ending is both essential and of little consequence.

A friend of mine once said he found Boyle’s writing (in particular “The Tortilla Curtain”) ‘contrived’… Perhaps it is, but precisely that is what I love.

This group of short stories is wonderfully entertaining, incredibly thought-provoking, macabre, joyful, tragic, and much more.

Other novels I’ve read and enjoyed by T.C. Boyle are:

Drop City, Riven Rock, Budding Prospects, The Tortilla Curtain, The Road to Wellvillle, A Friend of the Earth

And some short stories:

Greasy Lake and Other Stories, If the River was Whiskey, The Collected Stories of TC Boyle

As you see, I’m a fan!