T.C. Boyle Stories
In T.C. Boyle's T.C. Boyle Stories, you are given sixty-nine short stories from the author himself, with nearly 700 pages. Most stories reflect Boyle's dark humor, but when you're least expecting it, hehits you with something completely serious. T.C. Boyle Stories is divided into three parts entitled "Love," "Death," and "Everything in Between," which is exactly what you get. Boyle tells a wide variety of stories, but common themes are often shown. It is also quite common for Boyle to be inspired by real, historical figures, and songs. Although most of his stories weren't really my taste, I'd still recommend this collection of short stories to anyone who enjoys a well-written story.
Juliana Cloth
A story that could either be found as darkly humorous, or just dark, this story tells us of a traveling salesmen, William Wamala who has just come to a village in Africa where our sixteen-year-old narrator, Miriam Namirimu, is sleeping in after attending a dance just the night before. The next morning, Miriam smokes a cigarette given to her by teenage heart-throb James Kariango, for the first time on her way to school. As she passes a marketplace, she finds William Wamala, "the smiling, handsome, persuasive young man and budding entrepreneur from the North," selling cloth with Juliana" spelled out on it.
Two mornings later, William, satisfied with drink, drugs, good food, and sex, sells Miriam some "Juliana" cloth for only a few shillings. When Miriam brings the cloth home, her uncle's mistress falls mysteriously ill. Then a fifteen-year-old girl. Then everyone: women who had bought the cloth with sexual favors, their husbands, their husband's mistresses. At first, the townspeople thought William was a dabber in dark magic and put a curse on them. The disease included headaches and chills, diarrhea, and progressive wasting; it ended in death. Doctors come from all over the world to treat the infected, finding out the disease is sexually transmitted, and order condoms to distribute. The condoms did not arrive, but Miriam insisted they wouldn't have used them anyway.
When William comes to the house, Miriam's mother chases him out with a pocket knife. Miriam felt "immortally lucky" for not getting the disease, and James becomes absolutely irresistible considering he never got infected either.
Two mornings later, William, satisfied with drink, drugs, good food, and sex, sells Miriam some "Juliana" cloth for only a few shillings. When Miriam brings the cloth home, her uncle's mistress falls mysteriously ill. Then a fifteen-year-old girl. Then everyone: women who had bought the cloth with sexual favors, their husbands, their husband's mistresses. At first, the townspeople thought William was a dabber in dark magic and put a curse on them. The disease included headaches and chills, diarrhea, and progressive wasting; it ended in death. Doctors come from all over the world to treat the infected, finding out the disease is sexually transmitted, and order condoms to distribute. The condoms did not arrive, but Miriam insisted they wouldn't have used them anyway.
When William comes to the house, Miriam's mother chases him out with a pocket knife. Miriam felt "immortally lucky" for not getting the disease, and James becomes absolutely irresistible considering he never got infected either.
King Bee
Ken and Pat receive yet another death threat from their ex-son, Anthony, his message the same as usual: I eat the royal jelly. I sting and you die. Buzzzzzzzz. Pat too, the bitch. He hadn't bothered to sign it. Surprised by how Anthony had figured their address from Juvenile Hall after they had moved, changed phone numbers, and quit their jobs, Ken and Pat being to reminisce.
Nine years earlier, the Mallows (Ken and Pat), realized that they couldn't have children. To fix this issue, they did the next best thing: adopt. However, the adoption agency only contained children of different races, which was something they did not want, so they became interested in finding older children. Denteen, the man helping them at the adoption agency, recommend Anthony, a nine-year-old boy whose birth parents had been killed in a railway incident, and adoptive parents mysteriously died. Pat and Ken agree to meet him, falling for his "average" boy look in his picture.
They meet Anthony the following afternoon, and immediately fall in love with him die to his perfect smile and perfect manners. He remained like that through the trial period, always smiling, always doing what he was told. The day the trial period was over, however, Anthony took on a completely different persona. He became a delinquent, stealing, cursing, and obtained a strange obsession for bees. Distressed, Ken contacted Denteen, wanting some answers to which Denteen replied, "Why don't you get him a dog or something?"
Anthony refuses the dog, insisting that he wanted bees instead because they "showed no mercy," but later tells a doctor that he does, indeed, want a dog. So a dog he gets, only to completely discard the animal until one day when he traps the dog in the oven and burns it to a crisp when Ken and Pat are away. Finally, they bought him a beehive, which Anthony enjoyed profoundly.
One day, Ken discovers Anthony under his beehive, his wrists slit. They take him to the hospital where he stays for nine months before coming home. Ken was against his return, but Pat insisted that Anthony needed them.
The final trouble they had with Anthony was in school. He was twelve now, but still in fifth grade, and found his sexual desires starting in. One afternoon, he and a friend of his, Oliver, took one of the fifth grade girls and held her against a wall, spreading her limbs and causing Anthony to ejaculate. He was suspended for a short period before his return in which he chased the same girl down into the girl's bathroom where he raped her. The girl's parents sued the school district, and Anthony was taken into custody. Ken and Pet threw in the towel after that.
And now, six years later, Anthony had come back to haunt them. He sent Pat pictures of other couples engaging in sexual activities, attaching sensual messages to them before finally showing up on their doorstep one day. Pat let him in, hypnotized by his smile. However, Anthony wasn't the only thing that entered. His bees came with him, swarming around him before they all landed on him, completely covering him with bees. Pat called for Ken, and Anthony revealed that he was holding the queen bee, who he would soon crush. Ken and Pat ran, and Anthony smashed the queen, causing his bees to sting him repeatedly until he died.
Nine years earlier, the Mallows (Ken and Pat), realized that they couldn't have children. To fix this issue, they did the next best thing: adopt. However, the adoption agency only contained children of different races, which was something they did not want, so they became interested in finding older children. Denteen, the man helping them at the adoption agency, recommend Anthony, a nine-year-old boy whose birth parents had been killed in a railway incident, and adoptive parents mysteriously died. Pat and Ken agree to meet him, falling for his "average" boy look in his picture.
They meet Anthony the following afternoon, and immediately fall in love with him die to his perfect smile and perfect manners. He remained like that through the trial period, always smiling, always doing what he was told. The day the trial period was over, however, Anthony took on a completely different persona. He became a delinquent, stealing, cursing, and obtained a strange obsession for bees. Distressed, Ken contacted Denteen, wanting some answers to which Denteen replied, "Why don't you get him a dog or something?"
Anthony refuses the dog, insisting that he wanted bees instead because they "showed no mercy," but later tells a doctor that he does, indeed, want a dog. So a dog he gets, only to completely discard the animal until one day when he traps the dog in the oven and burns it to a crisp when Ken and Pat are away. Finally, they bought him a beehive, which Anthony enjoyed profoundly.
One day, Ken discovers Anthony under his beehive, his wrists slit. They take him to the hospital where he stays for nine months before coming home. Ken was against his return, but Pat insisted that Anthony needed them.
The final trouble they had with Anthony was in school. He was twelve now, but still in fifth grade, and found his sexual desires starting in. One afternoon, he and a friend of his, Oliver, took one of the fifth grade girls and held her against a wall, spreading her limbs and causing Anthony to ejaculate. He was suspended for a short period before his return in which he chased the same girl down into the girl's bathroom where he raped her. The girl's parents sued the school district, and Anthony was taken into custody. Ken and Pet threw in the towel after that.
And now, six years later, Anthony had come back to haunt them. He sent Pat pictures of other couples engaging in sexual activities, attaching sensual messages to them before finally showing up on their doorstep one day. Pat let him in, hypnotized by his smile. However, Anthony wasn't the only thing that entered. His bees came with him, swarming around him before they all landed on him, completely covering him with bees. Pat called for Ken, and Anthony revealed that he was holding the queen bee, who he would soon crush. Ken and Pat ran, and Anthony smashed the queen, causing his bees to sting him repeatedly until he died.
The Human Fly
Zoltan Mindszenty, or "The Human Fly," is a man from Hungry who comes to America seeking fame. He finds the narrator, a talent agent, and hires him after scaling a skyscraper with only his hands. The narrator takes him on, and scaled another building. Only this time, he remained up there for two weeks with no food. The cops threaten to arrest him, and the narrator finally gets him down, the police taking Zoltan into custody.
The narrator bails Zoltan out, and Zoltan wishes to execute his next stunt: riding on the wing of a plane. The narrator humors him, booking a flight for them to Mexico. During the flight, Zoltan exists the plane through the emergency exit and climbs onto the planes wing. Everyone watches as he holds on, and everything is fine until a bird flies into Zolton, exploding on his face. Everyone presumes Zolton dead, but he arises, and hops off the wing once the plane has landed.
After this stunt, Zolton is met with fame, being interviewed on nearly every channel. However, it's not enough for Zolton. He craves greater fame, and suggests he ride from Maine to L.A. on the bottom of a truck before leaping over twenty-six trucks on a motorcycle. The narrator agrees yet again to his terms, and they being the journey, Zolton on the bottom of the truck in a sack he made for himself. The ride goes smoothly until a moose is hit. The narrator worries that Zolton had indeed died this time, but when he checks, The Human Fly lives on.
After their arrival to L.A., Zolton mounts a motorcycle and begins the second act of his stunt. He leaps over the trucks, but there is one truck too many, and Zolton crashes, dying after asking the narrator to make it twenty-five trucks next time. They bury The Human Fly the next day, and eventually, the narrator signs an animated TV show deal about the hero The Human Fly. Zolton finally find his fame.
T.C. Boyle Biography
T.C. Boyle's Website
Interview with T.C. Boyle
Where to Buy Boyle's Books
Zoltan Mindszenty, or "The Human Fly," is a man from Hungry who comes to America seeking fame. He finds the narrator, a talent agent, and hires him after scaling a skyscraper with only his hands. The narrator takes him on, and scaled another building. Only this time, he remained up there for two weeks with no food. The cops threaten to arrest him, and the narrator finally gets him down, the police taking Zoltan into custody.
The narrator bails Zoltan out, and Zoltan wishes to execute his next stunt: riding on the wing of a plane. The narrator humors him, booking a flight for them to Mexico. During the flight, Zoltan exists the plane through the emergency exit and climbs onto the planes wing. Everyone watches as he holds on, and everything is fine until a bird flies into Zolton, exploding on his face. Everyone presumes Zolton dead, but he arises, and hops off the wing once the plane has landed.
After this stunt, Zolton is met with fame, being interviewed on nearly every channel. However, it's not enough for Zolton. He craves greater fame, and suggests he ride from Maine to L.A. on the bottom of a truck before leaping over twenty-six trucks on a motorcycle. The narrator agrees yet again to his terms, and they being the journey, Zolton on the bottom of the truck in a sack he made for himself. The ride goes smoothly until a moose is hit. The narrator worries that Zolton had indeed died this time, but when he checks, The Human Fly lives on.
After their arrival to L.A., Zolton mounts a motorcycle and begins the second act of his stunt. He leaps over the trucks, but there is one truck too many, and Zolton crashes, dying after asking the narrator to make it twenty-five trucks next time. They bury The Human Fly the next day, and eventually, the narrator signs an animated TV show deal about the hero The Human Fly. Zolton finally find his fame.
T.C. Boyle Biography
T.C. Boyle's Website
Interview with T.C. Boyle
Where to Buy Boyle's Books
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.