Greasy Lake & Other Stories

by T. Coraghessan Boyle

Mythic and realistic, farcical and tragic, The Washington Post Book World says these masterful stories mark T. Coraghessan Boyle's development from "a prodigy's audacity to something that packs even more of a wallop: mature artistry." They cover everything, from a terrifying encounter between a bunch of suburban adolescents and a murderous, drug-dealing biker, to a touching though doomed love affair between Eisenhower and Nina Khruschev...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140077812
• ISBN13: 9780140077810
• Release Date: May 1986
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 229 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Boyling Mad with Fun

What? You weren't aware that Eisenhower had a top-secret affair with Khrushchev's wife? Perhaps you need the vivid details of blues impresario Robert Johnson's death? And have you availed yourself of the former President's plan to snag two terms in the White House...by building a new moon? Yes, this lunacy and much more fun awaits in this file of T.C. Boyle short stories. These pieces, penned for a host of magazines (Antaeus, Antioch Review, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Iowa Review, Oui, Paris Review, TriQuarterly, and others,) were written earlier in Boyle's career, between 1979 and 1985. These are entertaining sketches of whimsical, off-beat protaganists and moments in time. An Elvis impersonator, a yuppie asparagus-crepe eater and his haunting rebel shadow, the survivalist who moves his family to Montana, a loyal Communist fighting to "hold public property sacred" in the cold Moscow winter...Boyle unfailingly delivers rare specimens in story after story. "There was a time when courtesy and winning ways went out of style, when it was good to be bad, when you cultivated decadence like a taste. We were all dangerous characters then." These opening lines from the first story "Greasy Lake" could describe most all of the zany, complex characters who color these fifteen stories. A quick, entertaining read.

my favorite short story collection

unforgetable characters, thrilling plot, shocking humor, and a richly involving, rewarding reading experience where I cringed, and encouraged as if I were shouting at a movie screen. This book totally rules, because the author is so fearless. TCB tackles issues and characters without flinching, and he really takes care of his readers. Fast-paced, and with a stunning prose-style, this guy can do no wrong.

wicked and delightful

there's a playfulness in this collection that I haven't seen anywhere else. the language and the plot are like being winked at -- Boyle lets you in on the joke and he trusts that his readers are as sly and smartass as he is.most people were probably introduced to Boyle in high school English with the title story, "Greasy Lake," and if, like my entire class, that was your favorite story all year long, you won't be disapointed. these other stories are just as accessible, bleak and funny in the coen-brothers way that only Boyle delivers.

A fine collection

This collection of stories is so sublime I could not possibly ever become tired of contemplating it.

I loved this book!

Ever want to see Sherlock Holmes fall flat on his face? Or the longest baseball game in history? You can have all this in Greasy Lake. From the ridiculous to the sublime, from the "Beggar Master of Sivani-Hoota" to "The Hector Quesadilla Story", Boyle ranges through writing styles and emotion like a master. This is a book with a new twist around every bend, and Boyle's beautiful stories will leave you both rolling with laughter and a little disturbed at times, but always entertained