Descent of Man: Stories

by T. Coraghessan Boyle

Book Overview

Seventeen short stories from the New York Times bestselling author of The Tortilla Curtain, "the sort of writer who inspires even poker-faced writers to grin and start dusting off their superlatives" (The Washington Post Book World).

"Descent of Man is loaded with energetic language. . . . Boyle is capable of the sublime."--The New York Times Book Review

In seventeen slices of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140299947
• ISBN13: 9780140299946
• Release Date: July 1990
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A Melange of Boyle's Greatest

... This could be one of the best collections of short stories by an author I have ever read in my entire life. The title story is utterly brilliant and one of the most amusing. My favorite, HEART OF A CHAMPION, is the one I thought brought about the most internal laughter, the story of a boy and his collie. Other favorites, most of them more thought-provoking than ha-ha-worthy include THE SECOND SWIMMING, A WOMAN'S RESTAURANT, THE EXTINCTION TALES, and DROWNING. A strange thing I noticed: the stories seem to progress from funny to gloomy according to their appearance. I had originally planned to exchange this book with a friend once I was done, but when I had finished it I knew that I would want to read this again. Of all the emotions these stories force you to accept, disappointment isn't one of them.

"YES IN-DEED, DAT MASTUH KONRAD IS QUITE DE WIT"

You'll never forget reading this book. The story "Descent of Man" is one of the funniest things I have ever read. The rest are equally satisfying, although, not all funny. Some of the stories, while thought provoking, are somewhat gloomy. Still, those that are not in the comedic vein, "Drowning" and "The Extinction Tales" come to mind, are highly entertaining and not to be disregarded. As for the rest, "The Champ," "John Barleycorn Lives," "Quetzacoatl Lite" and etc. etc. are absolutely some of the most amusing stories I'v ever had the pleasure of stumbling across. Descent of Man rocks my world!!!!!

You'll laught till you cry

I think Descent of Man and Green Hell are two of the funniest short stories I have ever read. Either of these two are worth the price of the book.You may want to read only a few stories at a time as they tend to get a little dark and depressing, but the two titles mentioned above are gems.

A Great Read. I salute T.C. Boyle's imagination

I hate a story I can predict. I have never read anything less predictable. I loved this book. I only wish I could forget it and enjoy reading it again at a later date, but I know it's stories are unforgettable.

T. C. Boyle is a new Kurt Vonnegut

The scarcastic humor found in "Desent of Man" was remesiant of Kurt Vonnegut and Franz Kafka. I enjoyed how T. C. Boyle picked apart the over-inflacted egos of the Gifted. He had one burned alive for taking a photograph of God dead. The Nihilistic pleaseure of a collector going out on a limb to collect an ancient beer can and his discription of a Researchers sexual experements with apes impressed me. No other book had such a darkly scarcastic vain and yet was written with intellegence. I also liked the twists in his stories thay kept the book exciting and alive. Like Hitchcock you will never know what "nice" fate T. C. Boyle has in mind for his pompus characters.