If the River Was Whiskey
by T. Coraghessan Boyle
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A collection of stories includes such diverse themes as a death-defying stunt man, a retired primatologist troubled by the "civilized" world, 1960s survivors "stuck" in that decade, and a freshly-marketed Ayatollah.Tags
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Member Reviews
I've been slowly reading T.C. Boyle's lovely short story collections in order and the great collections of collections sure help. Sadly, this collection doesn't meet the phenomenal expectations and extremely high bar of 'Descent of Man' and 'Greasy Lake'. On a sentence level, Boyle is consistently the best. Every sentence I could just roll around in my brainpan with all the vivid detail forever. I love digesting these sentences. Boyle never fails on a sentence level in every story. However, sometimes I want more detail to some of these stories in 'Whiskey', or possibly more of an ending. Maybe that is because I could live in a Boyle story forever. Maybe a final punch to the gut was missing in some of these stories but overall, this is show more another awesome book from Boyle. Most writers could never reach these skills. Just the ideas he has!
My favorites in this collection: The Miracle at Ballinspittle, Sorry Fugu, Peace of Mind, Sinking House, The Hat, The Ape Lady in Retirement
But these are tough to leave out too: The Human Fly, The Little Chill, The Devil & Irv Cherniske
Usually the only problem I have with the other stories is that they aren't long enough, but there are great details in each story to love & savor anyway.
Stars for 'If the River Was Whiskey': still five, though this collection isn't as good as the last two. Still some of the finest writing in existence. show less
My favorites in this collection: The Miracle at Ballinspittle, Sorry Fugu, Peace of Mind, Sinking House, The Hat, The Ape Lady in Retirement
But these are tough to leave out too: The Human Fly, The Little Chill, The Devil & Irv Cherniske
Usually the only problem I have with the other stories is that they aren't long enough, but there are great details in each story to love & savor anyway.
Stars for 'If the River Was Whiskey': still five, though this collection isn't as good as the last two. Still some of the finest writing in existence. show less
I like T.C. Boyle, and I like short stories, but this collection didn't really work for me. I felt like Boyle was trying to hard to be clever. Boyle is always worth reading, but none of these stories really resonated with me.
I like T.C. Boyle, and I like short stories, but this collection didn't really work for me. I felt like Boyle was trying to hard to be clever. Boyle is always worth reading, but none of these stories really resonated with me.
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103+ Works 27,989 Members
T. C. Boyle was born Thomas John Boyle in Peekskill, New York on December 2, 1948. He received a B.A. in English and history from SUNY Potsdam in 1968, a MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1974, and a Ph.D. degree in nineteenth century British literature from the University of Iowa in 1977. He has been a member of the English show more department at the University of Southern California since 1978. He has written over 20 books including After the Plague, Drop City, The Inner Circle, Tooth and Claw, The Human Fly, Talk Talk, The Women, Wild Child, and When the Killing's Done. He has received numerous awards including the PEN/Faulkner Award for best novel of the year for World's End; the PEN/Malamud Prize in the short story for T. C. Boyle Stories; and the Prix Médicis Étranger for best foreign novel in France for The Tortilla Curtain. His title's Sam Miguel and The Harder They Caome made The New York Times Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) T. Coraghessan Boyle is the best-selling author of "T.C. Boyle Stories," "Riven Rock," "The Tortilla Curtain," "Without a Hero," "The Road to Wellville," "East Is East," "If the River Was Whiskey," "World's End" (winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award), "Greasy Lake," "Budding Prospects," "Water Music," & "Descent of Man" (all available from Penguin). His fiction regularly appears in major American magazines, including "The New Yorker," "GQ," "The Paris Review," "Playboy," & "Esquire." He lives in Santa Barbara, California. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Awards and Honors
Awards
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
dtv (11903)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- If the River Was Whiskey
- Original title
- If the River Was Whiskey
- Original publication date
- 1989
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 534
- Popularity
- 55,606
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- 5 — Dutch, English, French, German, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 3
