Tooth and Claw

by T. Coraghessan Boyle

Since Descent of Man appeared in 1979, T. C. Boyle has transformed the nature of short fiction in our time; in a review of his most recent collection, After the Plague, The New York Times hailed him as “a writer who can take you anywhere.” Which is exactly what Boyle does in Tooth and Claw.

These fourteen stories, which have appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, and Playboy, display Boyle’s imaginative muscle, emotional sensitivity, and astonishing range. Here you will find the whimsical tales for which Boyle is famous, including “The Kind Assassin,” about a radio shock jock who sets the world record for most continuous hours without sleep. Readers will love the comedic drama of the title story, about a man who must contend with a vicious cat from Africa that he has won in a bet. And who could resist the gripping power of “Dogology,” about a woman who becomes so obsessed with man’s best friend that she begins to lose her own identity to a pack of strays. Boyle here proves once again that he is “a writer who can take any topic and spin a yarn too good to put down” (Men’s Journal).

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, American, Literature, Collections, 21st Century

284 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

T. Coraghessan Boyle (also known as T.C. Boyle, is a U.S. novelist and short story writer. Since the late 1970s, he has published eighteen novels and twleve collections of short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1988 for his third novel, World's End, which recounts 300 years in upstate New York. He is married with three children. Boyle has been a
Professor of English at the University of Southern California since 1978, when he founded the school's undergraduate creative writing program.

He grew up in the small town on the Hudson Valley that he regularly fictionalizes as Peterskill (as in widely anthologized short story Greasy Lake). Boyle changed his middle name when he was 17 and exclusively used Coraghessan for much of his career, but now also goes by T.C. Boyle.

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slackers, drunks, bartenders, drunken bartenders, casual drug users, and a whole host of ne'erdowells populate story after story of Tooth and Claw, a collective, mostly contemporary look at the modern day, average joe.

I don't recall the last time I enjoyed reading go-nowhere character sketch stories as much as I did this collection! That's not to say there are no exciting plot turns or hilarious situations gone wrong. Humor is plentiful herein. But it's the language that bought it all together. The words slid from the page in a don't-want-to-put-it-down pleasant flow and seldom did I put it down, except towards the end of the book when I neared my fill of drinkers getting their drink on. However, even repetition did not tarnish my overall enjoyment.

TC Boyle, TC Boyle, TC Bloody Boyle! If you live in So Cal, visit libraries and book shops, or join a book club, you are bound to hear the name TC Boyle sooner or later. Usually sooner than later and usually often. I was beginning to feel a little inundated with the Boyle after a while and I hadn't even read any of his books. I don't like to be goaded by peer pressure, so I stubbornly hold out when I feel like the world is trying to shove an author down my throat. That means I miss out on some undoubtedly good stuff, but it also means I don't miss out on some crap. In this case I was missing some good stuff. I will definitely seek out another Boyle book.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps 2 stars is too harsh. I give it 2.7 stars I guess.

Throughout life we stumble upon many stories which MUST be told, these, I am afraid, are not them. The writing talent is apparent, though the subject matter leaves much to be desired. I would liken it to a wonderful acting talent being cast for a horrible B movie. A project impossible to rescue. It was not all bad. As you would expect from a writer of this caliber, there were a few gem-worthy sentences to be extracted. Also, I did enjoy the stories, Dogology, Rastrow’s Island, & Chicxulub. Besides these, I found the book tedious, as if you had made small talk with a stranger out of politeness but they rambled on without cease about their uneventful life story. I never like to leave a book incomplete no matter how uninteresting it is so the fact that I finished it is not indicative of its quality. As I have stated, the writing talent is apparent, I could just not escape the laborious subject matter. I have heard so much about his novels, I thought this may be a good introduction on varying levels to become acquainted with the author on an array of subjects. I was wrong. I will look into his more acclaimed works so as not to cast him entirely aside. I hope I fare well with his works in the future. Read this at your own discretion.

[Sara Bakhshiani · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب کوچولو و خوبی بود.
داستانش گیرایی داشت چون من دیشب شروعش کردم و تصمیم گرفتم جزو کتابایی باشه که قبل خواب میخونم وتا امشب درگیرش بود که ادامه‌اشو بخونم.
حقیقتا دوست نداشتم پایانش باز باشه چون برای این ساعت از شب مغزم نمیکشه پایان باز رو برای خودم حل و فصل کنم :دی.
.
این کتاب جزو کتاب‌هایی بود که از نمایشگاه کتاب امسال (۴۰۴) خریدمش. چون فکر کنم ۲۰تومن از بن تخفیفم مونده بود و این تنها کتاب خوب ۱۵ تومنی بود که پیدا کردم و سفارش دادم تا بن تخفیفم حلال بشه :)))))))

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to start off by saying that I have read now or I should say listen to know in the past several weeks several TC Boyle audible books. Three of them were read by Boyle himself and the fourth one by another gentleman. I found them all really enjoyable for the most part which is why I sort of gang bang them altogether. And before I forget it I want to say that the end of this audible book had a 10 or 15 minute interview with Mr. Boyle which was fascinating. He seems like a fascinating guy he teaches creative writing in Southern California. I listen to this book in just a couple of days. I think I mentioned that these three or 4 or 5 books are all group together in the thick paper book hardcover TC Boyle Stories I I.

Was there a common theme in the 14 stories in this book? If you listen to Boyle talk you would automatically think that there couldn’t possibly be one theme. He talks about that he starts with an idea and then disease where goes. He doesn’t have a beginning middle and end in his mind when he starts. But having just read several of his short story collection’s that were all published as separate books and later presumably all gathered together between two covers, I would say there was a little more alcohol in this batch of stories than usual and drugs. I would have a hard time describing what a TC Boyle story is like but at the same time they all seem very much like T C Boyle stories! When you read a lot of his stories over a relatively short period of time you do notice certain phrasings that he uses regularly.

He likes to read his own stories and when he goes out on book 2 hours he considers his readings performances. He said he will find a story he likes to do and works well with an audience so he perfect set and does it repeatedly. He loves doing it and it is obvious and listening to him that he does. So I don’t think I have told you anything about any of the stories in any of these audible books But I have praise the author and enjoyed listening to his stories.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second Boyle short story collection I've read - after 'If the River Was Whiskey'; a better collection. 

You certainly can't fault the author's imagination; it still seems limitless. But, this time out, the ways in which his storylines play out can sometimes make the reader yawn. Too many of these stories feel uninspired. Out of 14 tales, 8 (singled-out below) are captivating-enough - and only half of those, here with an *, seem to go the necessary extra mile. The other 6 sort of flounder.

That said... though not all stories have wide appeal, some that didn't do much for me personally could very well resonate with others. However... 'The Doubtfulness of Water...' - the longest story, near the end, really is rather tedious, sort of no matter who you are. 

*'When I Woke Up This Morning, Everything I Had Was Gone': On forever losing a child, in a stupid manner.

'Swept Away': A most unusual love story.

*'The Kind Assassin': The collection highlight and my fave; a radio station sponsors a sleep deprivation marathon. Tons of built-in tension, with an unanticipated result. 

'The Swift Passage of the Animals': A promising love-match meets bad winter weather. 

'Jubilation': Duping eager tenants in Florida.

*'Chicxulub': Every parent's nightmare; the unthinkable call from a hospital.

'Blinded by the Light': That crazy environmentalist - only, what if he's not so crazy?

*'Tooth and Claw': The most far-fetched of the lot: young guy wins a wildcat in a bar game; giddy points just for being so ridiculous. I got the sense that Boyle was having fun here.

[Jörg · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Boyle I read in German. Usually, I try to read English books in the original. Found this one in a public book closet for free though.

T.C. Boyle is mostly known for his novels. In Germany, he's one of the most popular contemporary American authors. Maybe, he's more popular here than in his home country with his common themes of environmentalism, his criticism of American civilization and a focus on outsiders. Personally, I appreciate his topics but except for Drop City, none of his novels really enthralled me.

Maybe, his short stories are more to my taste? The individual ratings:

When I Woke Up This Morning, Everything I Had Was Gone - 4*
Swept Away - 3*
Dogology - 4*
The Kind Assassin - 2*
The Swift Passage of the Animals - 3*
Jubilation - 4*
Rastrow's Island - 3*
Chicxulub - 4*
Here Comes - 2*
All the Wrecks I've Crawled Out Of - 3*
Blinded By The Light - 4*
Tooth and Claw - 2*
The Doubtfulness of Water - 4*
Up Against the Wall - 3*

In sum, a solid 3* average. Which is on par with his novels. A dark tone blows through most of the stories. Loss of loved ones, deliberate turns of the back on society by drug abuse or alcoholism, unemployment, aimless drifting through life. None of these stories shed new light on any of these issues.

Dogology and Chicxulub raise themselves above the average by their respective juxtapositions. In Dogology, a scientist starts living with a pack of dogs, a more social life than the one she lived before. In Chicxulub, the probability of life on earth being eliminated by a meteor hit is contrasted with the one of a daughter being killed in an accident.

Blinded by the Light is Boyle's environmentalistic contribution to this collection. The ozone hole seen through the eyes of an ignorant Patagonian farmer.

And The Doubtfulness of Water echoes his own historical novel Water Music, describing the adventure of a single woman in the 18th century travelling on her own from Boston to New York to settle a heritage.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most exciting collection of short stories I've read in... well, maybe ever. Boyle is a master of short fiction. The thing that strikes me the most is how much more closely life is like a series of short stories than it is like a novel. The characters, plot, and settings are already underway before we become familiar with them, and will continue to exist after we have left them. Boyle manages to express the meat of a moment in time, its importance in the life of the character, and its importance to us, then just roll on past the story, allowing the reader to continue to imagine what may become of these characters. If you enjoy the rare opportunity to think back on a friend you may have had five, ten, fifteen years ago and smile at the possibilities their lives have offered them, as well as the possibilities your life has offered you, then you will feel right at home in these stories.

[Erfan Keyhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستان مختصر و نسبتا جذابی داره .

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's more TC Boyle! I love this guy, especially his short stories. The highlight here is probably "Dogology" and the lowlight is that super long and boring story about a woman's travel from Boston to New York, in 1702. The title is almost as long as some of the other stories in the book. Seriously, the only pleasure I got from reading that story was when they went through Rhode Island and talked about places I know. But since it's 300 years ago, I don't really care.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by this author and I loved the first half. The stories were engaging and interesting and unexpected. The second half of the stories weren't as good, but still enjoyable.

[Amy in the Desert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. These were just weird.

[Cynical · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed spending time in Boyle's world, just as I did when I read The Tortilla Curtain a while back, but I don't know if these stories really affected me the way the novel did. Someone else mentioned "Dogology" as a highlight, and I'd have to concur. That same person mentioned disliking "The Doubtfulness of Water" as a low point, and I'd have to agree there as well.

What Boyle does well here is create real protagonists--understandable, sympathetic (sometimes pathetic), and almost tactile. What he doesn't do is give the reader (or at least me) some sense that the events mean anything to the protagonists. Less plot arc and more plot line.

Still, these stories are so well written, the collection certainly isn't a waste of time.

[m. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I attempted this because I've been attempting to cultivate a palate for short fiction, but the stories I read from this collection (the first three) ended up being pretty good case studies in what leaves me cold about a lot of mainstream literary fiction. Ironic remove in place of emotional engagement, premises that were so mannered as to cross the line into preciousness. (I pretty much checked out after the dog lady introduced herself as "C.f." -- like Canis familiaris! See, because she's trying to become a dog!) Also -- and I recognize this is a me thing -- the subject position of each story was so very straight and male that I eventually lost patience entirely.

The prose was well-crafted, but it wasn't enough to hold my attention, I'm afraid.

[Mbarkle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this collection of stories, had already read a few in the New Yorker. I love the one about the guy who wins a serval in a bar. I keep mixing these up with the Denis Johnson story about the guy with the knife in his eye (Emergency Room, I think it is). All the hospital workers are tripping on drugs, things are just crazy. This book is along those lines, lots of drinking and a decided lack of direction in people.

[Damon · Rating 1 out of 5]

The tricks get old

[Kelly Parker · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are the kinds of short stories I don’t enjoy - weird little snippets about undeveloped characters that I don’t care about.

[Tim O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has there ever been such a middle name? Will add another half-star just for that. T.C. Boyle has never been on my radar, surprisingly, until recently; a National Book Award finalist for "Drop City" which will follow, but whose forte is, without question, the more-challenging short story. And, even moreso, his mercurial talent for crafting prose in various inflected styles to assimilate contrasting regional styles and periods in time. In the second story, "Swept Away" the Scottish narrative is distinctly voiced in the omnipresent--a story about the wind "the puff and blow of it" near those birdwatching precipices of the Muckle Flugga stacks off the northernmost tip of the Isle of Unst. Near the end, another takes place in New England "The Doubtfulness of Water" Madame Knight's Journey to New York, 1702. It is as if this good and proper lady's (a venturesome widow's) journal were written a month ago perfectly recasting a time when witches were burned at the stake and wayward travelers' were set upon by highwaymen and catamounts. Amazing. On the inside back jacket "Men's Journal" said it best; "a writer who can take any topic and spin a yarn too good to put down." Had a climate-change-induced "dome" of 110+ degrees parked for six straight days and this had me fully-engaged. Every story, just a welcome reprieve from having to get out from under the ceiling fan over the couch. His counter-cultural roots are well-represented in the details of the 70s revealing an age close to my own. A bonus for us Woodstock generation-types. So addicted have I become that I returned to that bookstore's shelves and bought all of his books that remained. One particulary of interest for eco-activist centrics is in the ilk of "The Monkey Wrench Gang" which "fantasizes" about sabotaging heavy equipment used to clear the unspoiled wildnerness; blowing bridges; targeting development infrastructure--it's a veritable anarchist cookbook. A worthy read. That is, if you don't mind the FBI tracking your booklist at the library. Boyle's book is not so radicalized being called "A Friend of the Earth." And just before writing this have just read a press release by Seven Circles who blocked the entrance to Burning Man at Black Rock City for the hijacking of what were previously Earth-friendly, anti-materialistic values by the conspicuously hyper-fadist rich, and "influencers" ensconced in their vain-glorified cliques/camps/krewes--their fully-appointed luxury RVs and supposedly drug-enlightened pursuit of the celebration of creativity. Their chartered private jets to fly in to the Playa with their own personal chefs--these VIPs and their "radical self-reliance" who don't give a good goddam about their carbon footprint. Or their lives of excess. God save us. These Earth-Last-Me-First-Burners sure as Hell won't. And Hell is what I wish for them and the organizers' hypocrisy---and my wish just came true. Just shortly after this submission, ironically, Nature unleashed her wrath in yesterday's torrential downpour, and it's not letting up, and 70,000 are told to shelter-in-place. And the desert (?) the glamping destination for the elite who are there to see, and be seen, has flooded. Miasmic muck up to the ankles. Sparkle ponies wearing garbage bags. Bags taped over bare feet as shoes are sucked into the unrelenting mud. Port-o-potties reeking full to the brim and cannot even be emptied. And...NEWSFLASH: "Chris Rock hiked five miles out of BRC today (his post removed but viral) and has escaped in a fan's pickup truck." The event is officially closed. And a certain word comes to mind: "Schadenfreude."

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boyle is one of my favourite contemporary authors (I have read over a dozen of his books & have 3 more in the to-read pile) & his imagination appears to have no bounds. His novels & stories take place in a great variety of times & places, but it had not occurred to me, before I consumed this collection, how often weather assumes a major role in the narrative. The title story here chronicles a not the sharpest axe in the tool shed's attempt to keep an African serval (wild cat) in his apartment. The results are entirely predictable, but the writing is so brilliantly exciting that I sometime felt that the beast was lurking in my own bedroom. Others feature a radio DJ embarking on a bizarre publicity stunt, 2 nature buffs almost killing themselves because they haven't prepared for a blizzard, & an 18th century American woman's horse journey from one side of the continent to the other, & back again. If you haven't yet experienced Boyle's writing & stories you are missing out. Highly recommended.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This was next up on the T.C. Boyle short story collection lineup when I want to dip into a couple stories when I'm being indecisive on what to read.  At least I dip into the next collection in the chronological lineup. So some of these stories I have read quite a while ago now.  It's another collection that is less experimental than his earlier stories.  Now they are leaning more animalistic or ecological.  So this is Boyle's sixth story collection and probably my least favorite of the six so far, but they are still very very good stories.  There is just a high bar at this point.  Less dark than 'After the Plague' but some of the stories here kind of left things hanging when the main plot point seemed to start, which might be why I consider some of these not as good.   If my main complaint with stories is "not long enough" then I guess that is a good complaint to have about writing.  Still, spectacular sentences in these solid stories.

[Ashlyn Neader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phenomenal writing talent and skills on display here. I have read a couple other novels by T. C. Boyle which is why I picked this one up although I’m not normally a reader of short stories.
The writing itself is poetic and beautiful. But some of the stories were painfully boring. I found myself wishing the protagonist in the second to last story would die or something just to add something interesting to the otherwise plotless story of her riding a horse from Boston to New York (for what reason?) and hating it the whole time.

[Carsen Codel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories wonderfully showcases Boyle’s exceptional writing ability over a range of subjects. Only a few of the stories felt weak to me (Rastrow’s Island, The Doubtfulness of Water) but those were made up for by many of the others. My favorites were probably the title story, Chicxulub, and The Swift Passage of the Animals, though they were all engaging to read thanks to Boyle’s descriptive language.

[Alireza Zamani · Rating 4 out of 5]

یه داستان کوتاهی بود که تو این برهه از زندگیم باهاش خیلی تونستم همزاد پنداری کنم، اکثرا این اتفاق برامون افتاده که تو شرایط افتضاحی قرار گرفته باشیم و یهویی یه روزنه امیدی به رومون باز شده و فکر کرده باشیم که همین نوره قراره ما رو از این شرایط نجات بده داستان کتابم همچین چیزی هست یه یوزگربه وارد زندگی جونیور میشه و اینجاست که جونیور حس میکنه شاید زندگی و تقدیرش بگرده و روی خوشی بهش نشون بده.

[C.A. Lear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah what the heck, 4.5 stars rounded up. Here's a wonderful collection of well written and entertaining literary fiction. It's difficult to rate a collection because not all the stories are usually to my liking, but most of these were and all of them contained those magificent prose Boyle is known for. I loved TOOTH AND CLAW, DOGOLOGY, THE SWIFT PASSAGE OF THE ANIMALS. I'm sure to reread this.

[Sara Streit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these short stories are quite stirring or at very least disturbing... certainly not a pick-me-up summer read. But certainly full of dark humor, unexpected downfalls and the very basic element of unexpected sources of unhappiness.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title story is quite strong. The final story somewhat engaging. But honestly most of the work is too precious, something like overworked bread dough. I sense the author regularly consults a thesaurus, making the resulting product disappointing. Attempt at grandeur does not equal grand.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very satisfying short story collection is superior to its predecessor. Boyle is in fine form, with his usual preoccupations—ecology, drugs, losers, animals, human folly—front and centre, with moving and hilarious results.

[P K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I just don't like Boyle's early fiction. I've tried a few and they often start with an intriguing concept, but they don't develop sufficiently and end so abruptly. It feels like reading a segment of a longer story that was never finished.

[Andreas Schicha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teilweise schwächer Abklatsch von Bukowski

[Anthony Schorr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good, some great, some lame

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this collection of story stories. The one which stood out and that I would recommend was the 1st story about a woman living as a
feral dog.