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If the River Was Whiskey
In sixteen stories, T.C. Boyle tears through the walls of contemporary society to reveal a world at once comic and tragic, droll and horrific. Boyle introduces us to a death-defying stuntman who rides across the country strapped to the axle of a Peterbilt, and to a retired primatologist who can’t adjust to the “civilized” world. He chronicles the state of romance that requires full-body protection in a disease-conscious age and depicts with aching tenderness the relationship between a young boy and his alcoholic father. These magical and provocative stories mark yet another virtuoso performance from one of America’s most supple and electric literary inventors.
240 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1989
43 people are currently reading
935 people want to read
About the author
T. Coraghessan Boyle
156 books2,992 followersT. 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
October 30, 2025
4.5 overall. Mostly 5-star stories in this 16-story collection which served as my intro to T.C. Boyle. Being top-notch 12 out of 16 times ain't nothin' to sneeze at.
I'm bowled over by the breadth of this guy's imagination; it seems limitless. He's also rather handy with his color-building research skills. The roots of many of these stories will have the ring of familiarity. Boyle is fond of pulling from the easily recognizable in order to turn it on its head. In doing so, the results are often not above being ludicrous. It's likely I'll hang out with this singular author for a spell. His voice feels addictive.
The Hits:
'Sorry Fugu': A clever restaurant owner sets out to unveil an enigmatic food critic.
'Modern Love': Anthropology mag editor is a germophobe... big time.
'Peace of Mind': Laying bare the scare tactics of the home security system racket:
'The Human Fly': A scraping-by talent agent will go to any lengths for his Houdini-esque 'star'.
'The Hat': Winter-holiday anxiety among frayed-nerve lodge denizens in mountainous California:
'The Devil and Irv Cherniske': A somewhat wild and woolly riff on Benét's Mr. Scratch:
'The Ape Lady in Retirement': Dian Fossey-inspired tale that highlights the absurdity in excessive, unnatural-habitat attempts to 'talk to the animals, learn their languages'.
The Misses. These stories carry a tone that makes them a bit less successful. But they're still generally well-written:
'Hard Sell': Interviewer sets out to humanize an Ayatollah.
'Mr. Cago en la Leche (Robert Jordan in Nicaragua)': Unfortunate idiot teen succeeds in failing as a revolutionary.
'The Little Chill': A cynical response to 'The Big Chill'.
'If the River Was Whiskey': Alcohol destroys a marriage... again.
I'm bowled over by the breadth of this guy's imagination; it seems limitless. He's also rather handy with his color-building research skills. The roots of many of these stories will have the ring of familiarity. Boyle is fond of pulling from the easily recognizable in order to turn it on its head. In doing so, the results are often not above being ludicrous. It's likely I'll hang out with this singular author for a spell. His voice feels addictive.
The Hits:
'Sorry Fugu': A clever restaurant owner sets out to unveil an enigmatic food critic.
'Modern Love': Anthropology mag editor is a germophobe... big time.
'Peace of Mind': Laying bare the scare tactics of the home security system racket:
"I mean next thing you know people'll be wearing these body alarms to work, rub up against them in a crowd and--bingo!--lights flash and sirens go off."'Sinking House': How the people next door can suffer significantly from a neighbor's mysterious 'grief'.
'The Human Fly': A scraping-by talent agent will go to any lengths for his Houdini-esque 'star'.
'The Hat': Winter-holiday anxiety among frayed-nerve lodge denizens in mountainous California:
They sent a hit squad after the bear.'King Bee': A horror story of adoption:
He stopped smiling when the trial period was over, as if he'd suddenly lost control of his facial muscles. It was uncanny. Almost to the day the adoption became formal--the day that he was theirs and they were his--Anthony's smile vanished..'Thawing Out': Somewhat bizarrely bittersweet love story, where the unreal dovetails with the all-too-plausible.
'The Devil and Irv Cherniske': A somewhat wild and woolly riff on Benét's Mr. Scratch:
Irv Cheriske was not a man to confide in his wife. He regarded marriage as an arbitrary and essentially adversarial relationship, akin to the yoking of prisoners on the chain gang.'The Miracle at Ballinspittle': Boyle's audacious answer to the legendary town of Fatima. Among the nuttiest stories I've ever read; vivid and scary:
"And you think it's as easy as that, do you?"'Zapatos': Italian shoe salesman bucks an infamously unfair government system.
'The Ape Lady in Retirement': Dian Fossey-inspired tale that highlights the absurdity in excessive, unnatural-habitat attempts to 'talk to the animals, learn their languages'.
The Misses. These stories carry a tone that makes them a bit less successful. But they're still generally well-written:
'Hard Sell': Interviewer sets out to humanize an Ayatollah.
'Mr. Cago en la Leche (Robert Jordan in Nicaragua)': Unfortunate idiot teen succeeds in failing as a revolutionary.
'The Little Chill': A cynical response to 'The Big Chill'.
'If the River Was Whiskey': Alcohol destroys a marriage... again.
July 27, 2019
Fierce food critic "Willa Frank never liked anything. She'd slip into a restaurant like a spy, a murderess..." You'll meet Willa in another fine collection of stories by Boyle in which plausible characters in familiar situs gradually somersault into bizarre or extreme or hilarious conditions. Among my favs is "Sorry Fugu," in which a chef fears the arrival of food critic Willa Frank. : "If only Willa would come on a night when the monkfish was so fresh it flakes on the grill , "when the pesto tastes like the wind through the pines." O dear : "The fresh cream for the frittata piemontese has gone mysterously sour.." No, not tonight, Willa.
In "Sinking House," after a geezer dies, his widow turns on all the taps in the house --the sound of running water is "pure, baptismal," and she's reminded of a murmuring brook in Vermont and/or a toilet flushing at the Waldorf. The burbles drive out the terrible silence of the house. Some days later, the neighbors notice that their lawn is wet, and, oops, so is the house rug. What's going on?
"The Hat" begins w a bear wandering near a lodge during a snowy Christmas. It's really about the humdrum but always randy lives of some oddballs who live at the resort, or go for visits -- drinking, gasbagging, playing pool, looking for sex. Looking for holiday cheer is Regina, probably from Los Angeles, wearing a knit hat and matching sweater...unbuttoned halfway to her navel. The bear lurks, Regina smirks. It's the hat that creates a crisis in this deck the halls w holly story.
Other stories have a surreal darkness, but all reveal as the NYTimes said, "One of the most verbally exuberant writers of his generation."
In "Sinking House," after a geezer dies, his widow turns on all the taps in the house --the sound of running water is "pure, baptismal," and she's reminded of a murmuring brook in Vermont and/or a toilet flushing at the Waldorf. The burbles drive out the terrible silence of the house. Some days later, the neighbors notice that their lawn is wet, and, oops, so is the house rug. What's going on?
"The Hat" begins w a bear wandering near a lodge during a snowy Christmas. It's really about the humdrum but always randy lives of some oddballs who live at the resort, or go for visits -- drinking, gasbagging, playing pool, looking for sex. Looking for holiday cheer is Regina, probably from Los Angeles, wearing a knit hat and matching sweater...unbuttoned halfway to her navel. The bear lurks, Regina smirks. It's the hat that creates a crisis in this deck the halls w holly story.
Other stories have a surreal darkness, but all reveal as the NYTimes said, "One of the most verbally exuberant writers of his generation."
Read
November 29, 2020Likely headed for abandonment/DNF, since I didn't care for either the first or last stories, generally the editor's choice for the best in the collection. It's early work. I do like some of his later stories, especially the SF/F ones. My favorite of these is “Asleep at the Wheel” 2019, about (among other things) self-driving cars and security robots. Online at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
I also recommend his "The Relive Box": re-live the best moments of your life on the idiot-box! Works out about like you would expect. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
I recall liking this one, and should reread it. But my monthly quota there has been used up!
Both of these are miles ahead of anything I saw here. Amazing to see good SF at the New Yorker. I seldom read the fiction there, and enjoy it even less often.
Abandoned after those 2 stories. Collxn left unrated. Others have liked it, but not me.
I also recommend his "The Relive Box": re-live the best moments of your life on the idiot-box! Works out about like you would expect. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
I recall liking this one, and should reread it. But my monthly quota there has been used up!
Both of these are miles ahead of anything I saw here. Amazing to see good SF at the New Yorker. I seldom read the fiction there, and enjoy it even less often.
Abandoned after those 2 stories. Collxn left unrated. Others have liked it, but not me.
Read
October 25, 2007I try, I really do, but I just find it so hard to enjoy T.C. Boyle's writing. Most of his stories seem really strained and the prose is just bland to me. Plus, he looks like that old guy who goes to shows alone.
August 31, 2017
A collection of 16 stories by the author of The Tortilla Curtain, The Road to Wellville, and World's End.
Book Review: If the River was Whiskey is T.C. Boyle's third collection of short stories and my introduction to his writing. What a fine introduction it was! Boyle's writing is supple, engaging, energetic, rich, and about seven more adjectives, all of them good. Among the stories he brings in humor (lots of it), the bizarre (that too), tragedy, social commentary, satire, and even, as if ashamed to admit it, a touching concern for his characters. The cast of characters is wonderfully diverse: a restaurateur, a germophobic lover, a burglar alarm saleswoman, a widow and a bored housewife, the Devil, and the residents of an Alaskan bar, among way too many more. There's no pattern here, no repetition, no templates being used: Boyle's writing is individual and brilliant; I know no one to compare him to except, perhaps, his contemporary the too little known William Kotzwinkle. The subject matter of the stories in If the River was Whiskey is almost beyond description, whatever I say won't be enough; these are archetypal stories. A modern-day version of Kafka's hunger artist, a young man with a dangerous fixation on bees, a Faust story, an Irish miracle, a metaphorical polar bear club, and, may I say it? "Urk!" (Yes, you'll have to read the book to understand that one, but if you have a taste for the bizarre you'll be glad you did.) Is it a perfect collection? Well, about 3½ of the stories are flawed, slight, or average. An interesting effect is that the topicality of some of the stories has not worn well. What was common knowledge in the Eighties only lasted five years or so and has long been forgotten, weakening a tale or two. The "half" is given for an excellent story that crashed and burned in the last paragraph; endings are vital for a short story. If the River was Whiskey is a book you should read, an excellent antidote to a reading slump or to change your perception of the world. T.C. Boyle is a first-rate writer; read him just for the fun of it all. [4★]
Book Review: If the River was Whiskey is T.C. Boyle's third collection of short stories and my introduction to his writing. What a fine introduction it was! Boyle's writing is supple, engaging, energetic, rich, and about seven more adjectives, all of them good. Among the stories he brings in humor (lots of it), the bizarre (that too), tragedy, social commentary, satire, and even, as if ashamed to admit it, a touching concern for his characters. The cast of characters is wonderfully diverse: a restaurateur, a germophobic lover, a burglar alarm saleswoman, a widow and a bored housewife, the Devil, and the residents of an Alaskan bar, among way too many more. There's no pattern here, no repetition, no templates being used: Boyle's writing is individual and brilliant; I know no one to compare him to except, perhaps, his contemporary the too little known William Kotzwinkle. The subject matter of the stories in If the River was Whiskey is almost beyond description, whatever I say won't be enough; these are archetypal stories. A modern-day version of Kafka's hunger artist, a young man with a dangerous fixation on bees, a Faust story, an Irish miracle, a metaphorical polar bear club, and, may I say it? "Urk!" (Yes, you'll have to read the book to understand that one, but if you have a taste for the bizarre you'll be glad you did.) Is it a perfect collection? Well, about 3½ of the stories are flawed, slight, or average. An interesting effect is that the topicality of some of the stories has not worn well. What was common knowledge in the Eighties only lasted five years or so and has long been forgotten, weakening a tale or two. The "half" is given for an excellent story that crashed and burned in the last paragraph; endings are vital for a short story. If the River was Whiskey is a book you should read, an excellent antidote to a reading slump or to change your perception of the world. T.C. Boyle is a first-rate writer; read him just for the fun of it all. [4★]
October 18, 2017
Some really good stories here. Midway through the book, started becoming frustrated with how all of the female characters are portrayed and it kind of soured it for me. Definitely has the feel that it was written by a guy back in the '80s.
April 7, 2023
***1/2
September 12, 2025
I grabbed this book out of a free pile on the side of the road, which is pretty on theme with these stories. Some end with a whimper, but they’re all interesting, and a few are really good.
November 12, 2021
This book, at least for me, captures that wonderful nihilistic "punk" aesthetic of the 80's seen in movies like "Repot Man", "The River's Edge" and "Return of the Living Dead". I mean, it's soo cynical about everything. So that when it does aim for a story about mourning a loved one or an alcoholic losing his family, it feels like those stories are out of place amongst the various killer chimps, murderous bee keeping teenagers and full body condoms.
In other words, I fucking Loved it.
In other words, I fucking Loved it.
Read
June 18, 2021Manchmal ist mir der Schreibstil auf die Nerven gegangen. Dieses haarkleine beschreiben... Ich weiß nicht genau, was mich gestört hat. Lesen in Häppchen, immer Mal wieder, wäre da besser gewesen. Das bietet sich auch eigentlich an, da es sich ja um eine Sammlung von Erzählungen handelt. Die Geschichten an sich haben mir aber meist gut gefallen.
July 12, 2018
Albert D'Angelo was born to eat and so was I. The descriptions of the food really made me hungry. I thought this story was a great way to depict "restaurant life" if you have every worked in a restaurant or are a foody I think you can appreciate all the quirks Boyle talks about. Some nights a restaurant can run so perfectly and smoothly and when you really want it to go well like when a food critic is there that's when everything will be chaotic. I found it really weird how he sent his wife off to the other side of town to get roe and proceeded to seduce Willa Frank the critic with the food. I'm not surprised though because food and pleasure activate the same part of the brain. This story is basically about having a "foodgasm".
February 28, 2019
I enjoy reading T.C. Boyle for his poignancy, imagination, satire and humor. "If the River Was Whiskey" is a magical and provocative group of short stories that will leave you appreciating this author's talent to tell stories that are unimaginable such as the one about a stuntman who rides cross-country strapped to the axle of a semi-tractor trailer truck or those that reveal the extremes of the human condition in the tale of a teenage sociopath. Pure T.C. Boyle!!!
August 31, 2018
Very entertaining collection of blackly comic stories, my favourite of which were 'King Bee', in which a couple adopt the child from hell, and 'The Ape Lady in Retirement', about a Jane Goodall-like character who returns to her small American hometown after years in Africa, bringing with her a badly-behaved chimp.
September 11, 2016
First of his stories that I have read. He is a great writer. Some of these were really excellent. These stories had the darkness of Palahniuk and the minimalism of Carver. No
Excess words and all very carefully chosen.
Excess words and all very carefully chosen.
February 9, 2022
a delight
August 8, 2022
*3.5 stars Boyle is just a wonderful storyteller. Even when the connection isn’t there - he could write about paint drying and I’d be interested.
April 10, 2017
Ich mag Boyles Kurzgeschichten, es sind natürlich nicht alle gleich gut, aber einige Stechen hervor und die meisten sind sehr angenehm, ein paar wenige haben mich weniger interessiert, aber im Grunde gleicht sich alles gut aus.
March 20, 2021
Schrott.
March 14, 2024
After swimming through the deep waters and successfully avoiding several different types of apocalypses, I'm definitely on a TC Boyle short story reading voyage. The slogging (while peering through finger-covered eyes) or dashing (as the tempo and humor/terror builds) has been through his most recent short story collection: "I Walk Between the Raindrops" and then back through his oldest collections: "Descent of Man", "Greasy Lake" and now "If the River was Whiskey".
I'm giving ITRWW 5 stars because every single story had me shocked, surprised, amused, terrorized, aroused, awakened, or impressed. Mostly I felt a lot of admiration for the twisted plots. It's difficult to pick a favorites or even a few faves, so I'll describe several of those that gave me the feels.
Perhaps my favorite of all of these is the eponymous story "If the River was Whiskey". I always love a story with a theme song, so look this bluesy song up to help you feel sadder on an already sad day. Or use it to delve into the depths of a drunken slump. Reminding me of Raymond Carver's theme of alcoholism, which that author knew a lot about and died from, ITRWW is about a father going downhill from alcoholism. He knows he's going to lose his wife and, more importantly, his son if he can't quit. However, he can't quit. This story was chock-full of details, the relationship between the son and father who are both aching to stay attached. The final dream paragraph will not be divulged, but should not be missed!
"Sorry Fugu" is another marvelous story with laugh aloud portions from a terribly critical restaurant critic. For example she writes, "The duck had been reduced to the state of the residue one might expect to find in the nether depths of a funerary urn." You can enjoy all of the horrendous reviews that she writes as the story builds. Meanwhile, the protagonist of the story is a restaurant owner who wants to get a great review from her. Will he manage to do so?
"Sitting on Top of the World" reminds me of Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" where one of the protagonists is also a female Forestry Service ranger who lives isolated high on a mountaintop and is also stalked by a male admirer... Could it be that she "borrowed" this idea? At first it seems that the stalker will attack her and take advantage of the fact she is alone up there. She prepares herself, thinking of means of escapes, getting out a knife, etc. However, at the end of the story, it's not really certain what she is planning for his inevitable final visit. If you read it, let me know what you think.
In "Sinking House" the protagonist, Muriel, is another character who has fallen off the reality rails. After her abusive husband dies, she turns on all of the taps in the house and the sprinklers outside to drown out the dead husband's voice in her head. The neighbors call the police after the water starts to flow onto their property. The officer goes to Muriel's house to have her turn everything off or she will be arrested. However, when the water is off "It was horrible. Insupportable. In the pit of that dry silence she could hear him, Monty, treading the buckled floors, pouring himself another vodka, cursing her in a voice like sandpaper." There is another surprise ending which I won't divulge.
Another final favorite of mine I'll mention from this collection is "The Ape Lady in Retirement" which can be compared to Boyle's story about Jane G (Goodall) from a previous collection. I say favorite in the sense of a nightmare that won't quit your brain! Beatrice Umbo is a retired chimp expert who moves from the Makoua Reserve in Africa to the suburbs in Connecticut. She agrees to take in Konrad, a chimpanzee who has been trained to be human, so that she may make him wild again. The reader can immediately see that this was a very bad idea as Konrad's behaviors get worse and more destructive by the day, hour, minute! The denouement is pure terror. Check it out, if you dare! I did have nightmares about this nightmare of a story.
Besides the fabulous, imaginative plots which you can't find anywhere else, there is the precise vocabulary and driving forward story lines in TC Boyle's works. Another tome not to be missed in my opinion!
I'm giving ITRWW 5 stars because every single story had me shocked, surprised, amused, terrorized, aroused, awakened, or impressed. Mostly I felt a lot of admiration for the twisted plots. It's difficult to pick a favorites or even a few faves, so I'll describe several of those that gave me the feels.
Perhaps my favorite of all of these is the eponymous story "If the River was Whiskey". I always love a story with a theme song, so look this bluesy song up to help you feel sadder on an already sad day. Or use it to delve into the depths of a drunken slump. Reminding me of Raymond Carver's theme of alcoholism, which that author knew a lot about and died from, ITRWW is about a father going downhill from alcoholism. He knows he's going to lose his wife and, more importantly, his son if he can't quit. However, he can't quit. This story was chock-full of details, the relationship between the son and father who are both aching to stay attached. The final dream paragraph will not be divulged, but should not be missed!
"Sorry Fugu" is another marvelous story with laugh aloud portions from a terribly critical restaurant critic. For example she writes, "The duck had been reduced to the state of the residue one might expect to find in the nether depths of a funerary urn." You can enjoy all of the horrendous reviews that she writes as the story builds. Meanwhile, the protagonist of the story is a restaurant owner who wants to get a great review from her. Will he manage to do so?
"Sitting on Top of the World" reminds me of Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" where one of the protagonists is also a female Forestry Service ranger who lives isolated high on a mountaintop and is also stalked by a male admirer... Could it be that she "borrowed" this idea? At first it seems that the stalker will attack her and take advantage of the fact she is alone up there. She prepares herself, thinking of means of escapes, getting out a knife, etc. However, at the end of the story, it's not really certain what she is planning for his inevitable final visit. If you read it, let me know what you think.
In "Sinking House" the protagonist, Muriel, is another character who has fallen off the reality rails. After her abusive husband dies, she turns on all of the taps in the house and the sprinklers outside to drown out the dead husband's voice in her head. The neighbors call the police after the water starts to flow onto their property. The officer goes to Muriel's house to have her turn everything off or she will be arrested. However, when the water is off "It was horrible. Insupportable. In the pit of that dry silence she could hear him, Monty, treading the buckled floors, pouring himself another vodka, cursing her in a voice like sandpaper." There is another surprise ending which I won't divulge.
Another final favorite of mine I'll mention from this collection is "The Ape Lady in Retirement" which can be compared to Boyle's story about Jane G (Goodall) from a previous collection. I say favorite in the sense of a nightmare that won't quit your brain! Beatrice Umbo is a retired chimp expert who moves from the Makoua Reserve in Africa to the suburbs in Connecticut. She agrees to take in Konrad, a chimpanzee who has been trained to be human, so that she may make him wild again. The reader can immediately see that this was a very bad idea as Konrad's behaviors get worse and more destructive by the day, hour, minute! The denouement is pure terror. Check it out, if you dare! I did have nightmares about this nightmare of a story.
Besides the fabulous, imaginative plots which you can't find anywhere else, there is the precise vocabulary and driving forward story lines in TC Boyle's works. Another tome not to be missed in my opinion!
September 3, 2017
I've been slowly reading T.C. Boyle's lovely short story collections in order and the great collections of collections sure help. Sadly, this collection doesn't meet the phenomenal expectations and extremely high bar of 'Descent of Man' and 'Greasy Lake'. On a sentence level, Boyle is consistently the best. Every sentence I could just roll around in my brainpan with all the vivid detail forever. I love digesting these sentences. Boyle never fails on a sentence level in every story. However, sometimes I want more detail to some of these stories in 'Whiskey', or possibly more of an ending. Maybe that is because I could live in a Boyle story forever. Maybe a final punch to the gut was missing in some of these stories but overall, this is another awesome book from Boyle. Most writers could never reach these skills. Just the ideas he has!
My favorites in this collection: The Miracle at Ballinspittle, Sorry Fugu, Peace of Mind, Sinking House, The Hat, The Ape Lady in Retirement
But these are tough to leave out too: The Human Fly, The Little Chill, The Devil & Irv Cherniske
Usually the only problem I have with the other stories is that they aren't long enough, but there are great details in each story to love & savor anyway.
Stars for 'If the River Was Whiskey': still five, though this collection isn't as good as the last two. Still some of the finest writing in existence.
My favorites in this collection: The Miracle at Ballinspittle, Sorry Fugu, Peace of Mind, Sinking House, The Hat, The Ape Lady in Retirement
But these are tough to leave out too: The Human Fly, The Little Chill, The Devil & Irv Cherniske
Usually the only problem I have with the other stories is that they aren't long enough, but there are great details in each story to love & savor anyway.
Stars for 'If the River Was Whiskey': still five, though this collection isn't as good as the last two. Still some of the finest writing in existence.
January 26, 2018
Like any collection of short stories, there will always be a mix of bad, good, and better. Overall, I liked the writing, but I didn't find any of the stories particularly compelling. It amused me that they all conveyed a strong '90s vibe, even though they were very different. A good enough read, but not one that I'm eager to recommend.
September 27, 2022
If T. Coraghessan Boyle was named Frank Jefferson, would anyone read these short stories? Would they be published? I think that Boyle's name gives him unearned credibility. These stories are bland, obvious, and not as shocking in their violence or sexuality as intended. I ho-hummed my way through them, wondering why this guy got so much acclaim 40 years ago.
There are a few lovely phrases in the book. Some of the concepts of the stories are creative, though not necessarily executed very well. And Boyle does a halfway decent imitation of macho male writers of prior decades, if you consider that's a tradition worth extending. But that's as much as I can compliment in the 200 or so pages.
A few stories used magic realism, such as one about a religious vision by a man visiting Ireland, in which every drink, every meal, every woman (yes, that trope) he had comes back to him. It's pretty well done, but not an original idea. Other stories exaggerate people's pasts, presumably for comic effect or to build some type of crazed atmosphere. There's one in which a guy comes back to his flea-bite hometown after six years, and he's had some success in Hollywood, while all his high school loser friends are falling apart. Their interaction at a party is well done, but you have to look past the soap opera background you're given on them -- a background that's so far beyond what's needed to get his point across that it's a distraction from what could be a subtle story.
There's a lot of casual sex in the stories, too. The sex is not explicit, but it's alluded to -- the guy on a business trip ending up in bed with the cute girl at the reception desk, the man helping revolutionaries in Latin America apparently being given a teenage girl for the night, etc. Dumb stuff that is the staple of novels written by men. I can't tell if this stuff is intended to shock the reader, titillate, show some trait about the male characters, or what. It's just dumb.
But in general these are grunting, groping, spoiled people who aren't strange enough to be interesting, nor likeable at all.
There are a few lovely phrases in the book. Some of the concepts of the stories are creative, though not necessarily executed very well. And Boyle does a halfway decent imitation of macho male writers of prior decades, if you consider that's a tradition worth extending. But that's as much as I can compliment in the 200 or so pages.
A few stories used magic realism, such as one about a religious vision by a man visiting Ireland, in which every drink, every meal, every woman (yes, that trope) he had comes back to him. It's pretty well done, but not an original idea. Other stories exaggerate people's pasts, presumably for comic effect or to build some type of crazed atmosphere. There's one in which a guy comes back to his flea-bite hometown after six years, and he's had some success in Hollywood, while all his high school loser friends are falling apart. Their interaction at a party is well done, but you have to look past the soap opera background you're given on them -- a background that's so far beyond what's needed to get his point across that it's a distraction from what could be a subtle story.
There's a lot of casual sex in the stories, too. The sex is not explicit, but it's alluded to -- the guy on a business trip ending up in bed with the cute girl at the reception desk, the man helping revolutionaries in Latin America apparently being given a teenage girl for the night, etc. Dumb stuff that is the staple of novels written by men. I can't tell if this stuff is intended to shock the reader, titillate, show some trait about the male characters, or what. It's just dumb.
But in general these are grunting, groping, spoiled people who aren't strange enough to be interesting, nor likeable at all.
April 6, 2024
TC Boyle is one of my favorite short story writers. He is able to capture so much action in a short story, which sets him apart from other short fiction writers who seem to capture moments rather than stories. There are stories in this book that will make you gasp ("The Ape Lady in Retirement") and there are stories w/ common themes for Boyle (sex in "Modern Love", capitalizing on others' fears in "Peace of Mind", and outrageous acts of human stupidity in "The Human Fly". These are stories that one can escape into, despite the fact that they last for a matter of pages. What kept me from 4 stars were some of the endings - they seemed too thin, too unfulfilling, too unfinished.
December 27, 2021
Overall, a very impressive collection of stories. “The Hat” and “Sinking House” are understated, poignant masterpieces of the short story form. “If The River Was Whiskey” and “Thawing Out” are also excellent. “The Ape Lady in Retirement” is the only noticeable misstep here. The idea that an experienced primate scientist would voluntarily place a captive chimpanzee in certain situations (such as an airplane cabin) where panic, rage, and destruction are virtually guaranteed is completely ridiculous.
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May 13, 2024‘Sorry Fugu’ is one of my favourite short stories of all time. Just such incredibly smart writing. Each sentence is so specifically crafted, with an irresistible rhythm and momentum building in the words.
Of course, as a short story collection, the quality ebbs and flows, and there are certainly some choices in the representation of female characters (an issue I’ve had with Boyle, period). But ‘Sorry Fugu’? 6 out of 5 stars!
Of course, as a short story collection, the quality ebbs and flows, and there are certainly some choices in the representation of female characters (an issue I’ve had with Boyle, period). But ‘Sorry Fugu’? 6 out of 5 stars!
July 24, 2018
T.C. Boyle is one of my favorite writers and one of the reasons is that he moves seamlessly between novels and short stories - a feat not many writers can do. There was definitely a lot of Carver influence here, but also Boyle's unique voice that can make an absurd situation (a man strapped to the bottom of a truck) seem absolutely normal.
July 29, 2025
I had never read anything by Boyle - found this in the "bargain/used" section of a bookstore I like, picked it up on a whim. Like most short story collections it is a little hit and miss, but the "hits" were really good. I thought the real standouts were The Hat, The Human Fly, and King Bee, but there were lots of other memorable ones.
August 18, 2017
If you are going read anything to read by T. C. Boyle you have to start with this collection of short stories. The reader is not sure whether to laugh or cry. I finished it in a day over a Xmas and was back out to find more of him the next.
November 8, 2018
Wow! A delectable collection of stories by one of my favorite authors. This is a voice of T C Boyle different from his longer works. He comes across as the love child of George Saunders and Hunter S Thompson.
July 5, 2023
Almost gave up on this book because the stories were so dark but I’m glad I stuck with it. There were a few lighter stories and I came to appreciate the absurdity of the situations many of the characters found themselves in.
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