Thomas Coraghessan Boyle, also known as T. C. Boyle and T. Coraghessan Boyle (born December 2, 1948), is an American novelist and
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published sixteen novels and more than 100 short stories. He won the
PEN/Faulkner award
The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...
in 1988, for his third novel, '' World's End'', which recounts 300 years in
upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
.
He was previously a
Distinguished Professor
Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs.
In the United States
Often specific to one institution, titles such ...
of English at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
.
Early life
Boyle grew up in
Peekskill, New York
Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from ...
. His name was originally Thomas John Boyle; he changed his middle name to Coraghessan when he was 17 after an ancestor of his mother. He received a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
(1977) from the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
.
Literary characteristics
In ''Understanding T. C. Boyle'', Paul William Gleason writes, "Boyle's stories and novels take the best elements of Carver's minimalism, Barth's postmodern extravaganzas, Garcia Marquez's
magical realism
Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to:
* Magical (horse)
Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...
, O'Connor's dark comedy and moral seriousness, and
Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
' entertaining and strange plots and brings them to bear on American life in an accessible, subversive, and inventive way."
Many of Boyle's novels and short stories explore the baby boom generation, its appetites, joys, and addictions. His themes, such as the often-misguided efforts of the male hero and the slick appeal of the anti-hero, appear alongside brutal satire, humor, and
magical realism
Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to:
* Magical (horse)
Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...
. His fiction also explores the ruthlessness and the unpredictability of nature and the toll human society unwittingly takes on the environment. His novels include ''World's End'' (1987, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction); ''The Road to Wellville'' (1993); and ''The Tortilla Curtain'' (1995, winner of France's
Prix Médicis étranger
Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...
).
Boyle has published eight collections of short stories, including ''Descent of Man'' (1979), ''Greasy Lake'' (1985), ''If the River Was Whiskey'' (1989), and ''Without a Hero'' (1994). His short stories frequently appear in the major American magazines, including ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', ''Harper's'', ''Esquire'', ''The Atlantic Monthly'' and ''Playboy'', as well as on the radio show ''
Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts is an event at New York's Symphony Space on the Upper West Side, in which screen and stage actors read classic and new short fiction before a live audience. The stage show began in 1985 and continues today at Symphony Space's Pet ...
''.
Personal life
Boyle is married to Karen Kvashay. They have three children and live in Montecito near
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...
. Their home was imperiled in the 2017
Thomas Fire
The Thomas Fire was a massive wildfire that affected Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of multiple wildfires that ignited in southern California in December 2017. It burned approximately before being fully contained on January ...
which consumed 440 square miles and over 1,000 structures in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, killing a firefighter in the latter. The fires denuded drought-stricken hillsides of vegetation and torrential rains in January 2018 subsequently dislodged immense boulders and precipitated
mudslides
A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a significa ...
which destroyed over one hundred homes and killed almost two dozen of his neighbors. Over 10,000 people were evacuated from Montecito as a result of the sequence of natural disasters. Boyle extensively documented both calamities on his website, and additionally in an article for ''The New Yorker'' magazine.After the mudslides, an absence in Montecito ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', T. C. Boyle, January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
Boyle has said
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...
is his favorite novelist. He is also a fan of
Flannery O'Connor
Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries.
She was a Southern literature, Southe ...
and
Robert Coover
Robert Lowell Coover (born February 4, 1932) is an American novelist, short story writer, and T.B. Stowell Professor Emeritus in Literary Arts at Brown University. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and metafiction.
Background
...
.
Bibliography
Novels
*''
Water Music
The ''Water Music'' is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames.
Structu ...
Riven Rock
''Riven Rock'' is a 1998 novel by American author T. Coraghessan Boyle. It concerns the life of Stanley McCormick, a son of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaper, and Stanley's devoted wife, Katherine McCormick, daughter of Wirt Dexter, a pr ...
Drop City
Drop City was a counterculture artists' community that formed near the town of Trinidad in southern Colorado in 1960. Abandoned by 1979, Drop City became known as the first rural "hippie commune".
Establishment
In 1960, the four original foun ...
Talk Talk
Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles " Talk Talk" (1982), " It's My Life", and " ...
When the Killing's Done
''When the Killing's Done'' is a 2011 novel by T. C. Boyle. The book is an environmental and family drama revolving around the Channel Islands of California—specifically Anacapa and Santa Cruz—and the controversy surrounding efforts by the ...
'' (2011)
*''San Miguel'' (2012)
*''
The Harder They Come
''The Harder They Come'' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world". ...
*''Descent of Man'' (1979)
*'' Greasy Lake & Other Stories'' (1985)
*''If the River Was Whiskey'' (1989)
*''Without a Hero'' (1994)
*''T.C. Boyle Stories'' (1998), compiles four earlier volumes of short fiction plus seven previously uncollected stories
*'' After The Plague'' (2001)
*''Tooth and Claw'' (2005)
*''The Human Fly'' (2005), previously published stories collected as
young adult literature
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate w ...
*''Wild Child & Other Stories'' (2010)
*''T.C. Boyle Stories II'' (2013), compiles three volumes of short fiction (''After the Plague'', ''Tooth and Claw'', ''Wild Child'') with a new collection of 14 stories entitled "A Death in Kitchawank"
*''The Relive Box & Other Stories'' (2017)
*''I Walk Between the Raindrops'' (2022)
List of stories
The following list is a selection of the many short stories Boyle has written:
Edited anthology
*''DoubleTakes'' (2004, co-edited with K. Kvashay-Boyle)
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...
. It starred
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
,
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994) ...
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his ol ...
,
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his seven seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1993, which earned him fiv ...
, and Colm Meaney. The film was not well received either critically or financially, and was considered a box-office flop and appeared on several critics' worst-of-the-year lists.
Rea Award for the Short Story
The Rea Award for the Short Story is an annual award given to a living American or Canadian author chosen for unusually significant contributions to short story fiction.
The Award
The Rea Award is named after Michael M. Rea, who was engaged in ...
, 2014.
* Induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2009.
* Best American Stories selection, 2008 ("Admiral," from Harper's).
* Best American Stories selection, 2007 ("Balto," from The Paris Review).
* National Magazine Award, 2007 ("Wild Child," from McSweeney's).
* Ross Macdonald Award for body of work by a California writer, 2007.
* Audie Prize, 2007, for best audio performance by a writer (The Tortilla Curtain).
* Commonwealth Club of California Silver Medal for Literature, 76th annual awards, 2007 (Talk Talk).
* Evil Companions Literary Award, Denver Public Library, 2007.
* Founder's Award, Santa Barbara Writers' Conference, 2006.
* Best American Stories selection, 2004. "Tooth and Claw," from The New Yorker.
* Editors' Choice, New York Times Book Review, one of 9 best books of the year, 2003.
* O. Henry Award, 2003. "Swept Away," from The New Yorker.
* National Book Award Finalist, Drop City, 2003.
* Southern California Booksellers' Association Award for best fiction title of the year, 2002, for After the Plague.
* O.Henry Award, 2001. "The Love of My Life," from The New Yorker.
* The Bernard Malamud Prize in Short Fiction from the
PEN/Faulkner Foundation
PEN/Faulkner Foundation (est. 1980) is an independent charitable arts foundation which supports the art of writing and encourages readers of all ages.Prix Médicis Étranger, Paris, for the best foreign novel of the year, 1997 (The Tortilla Curtain).
* Best American Stories selection, 1997. "Killing Babies," from The New Yorker.
* Howard D. Vursell Memorial Award from the National Academy of Arts and Letters, for prose excellence, 1993.
* Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree, State University of New York, 1991.
* Editors' Choice, New York Times Book Review, one of the 13 best books of the year, 1989 (If the River Was Whiskey).
* PEN Center West Literary Prize, best short story collection of the year, 1989 (If the River Was Whiskey).
* Prix Passion publishers' prize, France, for best novel of the year, 1989 (Water Music).
* O. Henry Award, 1989. "The Ape Lady in Retirement," from The Paris Review.
* Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for Literature, best novel of the year, 57th annual awards, 1988 (World's End).
* O. Henry Award, 1988. "Sinking House," from The Atlantic Monthly.
*
PEN/Faulkner Award
The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...
, best novel of the year, 1988, for World's End.
* Guggenheim Fellowship, 1988.
* Editors' Choice, New York Times Book Review, one of the 16 best books of the year, 1987 (World's End).
* Commonwealth of California, Silver Medal for Literature, 55th Annual Awards, 1986 (Greasy Lake).
* The Paris Review's John Train Humor Prize, 1984 ("The Hector Quesadilla Story").
* National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, 1983.
* The Paris Review's Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, 1981 ("Mungo Among the Moors," excerpt from Water Music).
* The St. Lawrence Award for Fiction, best story collection of the year, 1980 (Descent of Man).
* National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, 1977.
* Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines Fiction Award for the Short Story, 1977.
The Bat Segundo Show
''The Bat Segundo Show'' was a podcast based in New York City run by writer and literary critic Edward Champion between 2004 and 2012. It was revived in mid-2013.
The program features comprehensive interviews with prominent figures in arts and ...