The Relive Box and Other Stories
-
- 9,99 €
-
- 9,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
BY THE WINNER OF THE JONATHAN SWIFT PRIZE 2017
A dynamic new collection from one of our most original storytellers: satirical, surreal and very much of the moment.
In these stories, T. C. Boyle focuses hisunerring eye on humanity's relationship with nature, and the unintended consequences of our efforts to control it. The prize-winning 'Are We Not Men?' reflects on the impact of new gene-editing technologies while 'The Relive Box' parodies our obsession with electronic games.
In 'She's the Bomb', a young woman waits on her graduation day, heart in mouth, for an explosive event. A burrito-seller has a killer business idea in 'The Five-Pound Burrito', but learns that success comes at a price. An Italian couple moves south for a fresh start in 'The Argentine Ant', but finds that paradise holds a nasty sting. And in the chilling 'The Designee', a lonely widower can't believe his luck when he receives a mysterious letter from England.
In electric prose T. C. Boyle explores myriad facets of society: greed and excess, parenthood and responsibility, the digital world and the way we understand our mortality. Roaming unrestrainedly through
the present and near future, he inhabits his characters' minds with a ventriloquist's flair, skewering human motivations and revealing us to ourselves with empathy and wry humour.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Characteristic elements of Boyle's fiction ecology, technology, human nature, obsession, men and women disconnecting, the ordinary intermingled with the bizarre are evident throughout his latest collection. The title story centers on a home entertainment console that enables users to relive moments from their past. A father, arguing with his 15-year-old daughter who wants more time at the "relive box," tells her to do her homework and focus on the present, even as he is about to lose his job because he cannot stop reliving younger, more promising, days. "Are We Not Men?" depicts a future in which people custom-design children and pets through transgenic reproduction. Trouble begins when a maraschino-colored pit bull attacks a micropig. In "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til the Well Runs Dry)," a neighbor siphons off a California homeowner's water during a drought, then, when the drought worsens, asks the homeowner to contribute money for a rain dancer. The creator of the titular dish in "The Five-Pound Burrito" experiences both success and hallucinations. In "She's the Bomb," a non-graduating college senior is desperate to delay the graduation ceremony, and in "Warrior Jesus" a cook channels his anger into disturbing comic-book superhero episodes. Settings for the 12 stories range from the Arctic to Argentina, protagonists from teenager to octogenarian. Boyle makes the incredible credible through detail, and his narrative voices convincing through rhythm and attitude. He can be funny, touching, or both, as when his characters face aging with characteristically fervent resistance.
