t c boyle is one of the most inventive and wickedly funny short story writers at work today over the course of twentyfive years boyle has built up a body of short fiction that is remarkable in its range richness and exuberance his stories have won accolades for their irony and black humor for their verbal pyrotechnics for their fascination with everything bizarre and queasy and for the razorsharp way in which they dissect americas obsession with image and materialism gathered together here are all of the stories that have appeared in his four previous collections as well as seven that have never before appeared in book form together they comprise a book of small treasures a definitive gift for boyle fans and for every reader ready to discover the ferocious delicious imagination los angeles times book review of a vibrant sensibility fully engaged with american society the new york times