Boyle, T(homas) Coraghessan

(US, 1948– )

Boyle entered fiction through the short story, studying under Robert Coover at Iowa. The Collected Stories (1993) provides a clear guide to his sometimes zany, pun-fuelled prose. In 1988 he won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

The Tortilla Curtain (1995) is a Californian tragedy sprung with characteristic comic detail, in which he handles liberal environmentalist Delaney Mossbacher's obsession with his Mexican counterpart—whom he accidentally runs down on a dark canyon road. The abrasive account strips away delusions about modern America, as it zeroes in on middle-class fads and angst. Elements of a modern western and a serious social drama emerge from the elegant writing and gripping narrative.

John Barth, Robert Coover, Thomas Pynchon. See SHORT STORIES  AM