A man wanting to celebrate Valentine’s Day with his wife is hounded by a possibly deranged lady claiming to have ESP. A woman taking a leisurely cross-country train journey has an unsettling encounter with an apologist for a mass murderer. A man makes a bet with the elderly owner of an apartment he covets but quickly learns to regret it. Cruise passengers at the outbreak of Covid make the best of their extended time on board the ship. A self-absorbed alcoholic writer is confronted by a son he never knew he had with a mother he cannot remember. A fungus infecting baguettes in a small French village causes a hallucinatory panic among the citizens. In a future where people’s lives are ruled by their Social Credit Score, a young man makes some impactful relationship decisions. The exasperated parents of their 31-year old unemployed son go to court to evict him from the family home. A medical student with an animal activist girlfriend has misgivings when asked to operate on a friendly dog.

What is the unifying theme connecting these plot summaries? I honestly have no idea, but they represent many of the thirteen stories contained in the volume I Walk Between the Raindrops by acclaimed author T. C. Boyle. Some of the tales can fairly be categorized as social commentary (‘SCS 750’, ‘Not Me’, Dog Lab’), with others being quirky—twisted, really—character studies (‘These Are the Circumstances’, ‘Big Mary’, ‘The Shape of a Teardrop’), while still others rise to a level that borders on magical realism or science fiction (‘Asleep at the Wheel’, ‘The Hyena’). All told, then, the stories appear to share little with one another save two things: they are all well-crafted narratives featuring Boyle’s signature style that combines strange plotlines with familiar settings that move across time and location, and they are all quite funny and entertaining.

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of short fiction, as much because of its eclectic nature as despite it. This was the first time I have read Boyle’s work, but after seeing him likened over the years to writers such as Raymond Carver, John Barth, Flannery O’Connor, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez—all favorites of mine—I thought it was time that I did. The book did not disappoint in any way and each of the stories held my interest from beginning to end. That said, I certainly had my favorites; I found myself attracted more to the character-driven tales, such as ‘The Thirteenth Day’ (about the quarantined cruise ship) or ‘The Apartment’ (which involved the housing bet gone wrong) than the ones in which the author let his imagination run a little more to the wild side. Still, there is not a weak selection in the set and this is a book that I can enthusiastically recommend to both seasoned fans of the author and those new to his work.

I tend not to read short stories…I find myself too often disappointed by the rushed storyline, lack of character development. I’m not sure how to categorize these stories, other than unsettling. Solid, quality writing, but I’m left undecided whether or not I enjoyed it.

Yet another absolutely exquisite book of provocative and often harrowing book of short stories by short story master T. C. Boyle. I thoroughly enjoyed these varied, raucous tales of deceit, ineptitude and lust. Perfection in every sense.

I’ve read quite a few of T.C. Boyle’s novels because he usually seems to pick subjects which interest me, often involving nature, other species, or non-mainstream human lives. This may be the first collection of his short stories which I’ve read, but the stories were just as interesting as the novels.

After I read this collection, I made a list of the stories and their topics. Looking over the list now, I found myself smiling with memories of the characters and plots even when some of the subjects may not seem pleasant—a Covid cruise, credit ratings as social control, a 31-year-old who won’t move out of his parents’ house, a town hallucinating from bad flour, a med student operating on a dog (the toughest for me to read, but stick with it). Boyle writes in a mostly straightforward style with a sense of humor and honesty which might offend the overly politically correct (for example, one story titled Not Me begins with the warning that it happened a long time ago).

Big thanks to the author for his work, and to Ecco and NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ecco for the ebook. As wonderful as a novelist as he is, T.C. Boyle will always be a master of the short story and here is his latest collection that jumps around the world and time as he lets his grand imagination roam from a luxury liner that can’t find a port that will take them as a new virus makes its way around the world, to a man who pays a monthly fee for the right to move into an elderly woman’s apartment after she passes away, only to see her have one birthday after another. And he takes you so many other places, with his endless wit and intelligence.

I requested this book from Netgalley solely based on the strength of Boyle’s novel Talk to Me. And sure enough, in short form the author doesn’t disappoint either. In fact, this collection is pretty terrific. Some writers just that that certain quality – the organic storytelling technique. They write as if they are speaking directly to you, the natural raconteurs. Boyle is that kind of author. An absolute pleasure to read.
Even though some of the stories weren’t as plot driven as I might have liked. Even though Boyle is prone to page-long paragraphs and paragraph-long sentences. No matter the destination, the journey there was a joy each and every time. Such a striking reminder of the power of words, the evocative potency of language and the beauty of unfolding narrative.
Great collection of short stories. Just what literary fiction ought to be. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.