A few weeks ago, after reading reviews for T.C. Boyle’s short story ‘Chicxulub’, I decided to read it. Actually I devoured it and was hungry for more by Boyle. I was also convinced that more people should read the story and set up a little challenge. Here is the link for my review of ‘Chicxulub’.
No one took me up on the challenge, however I am determined to read more by T.C. Boyle. He has many published collections of short stories and novels. I went to my local library and picked out one of his short story collections, ‘After the Plague’. Do to my ARC commitments, I was only able to read one story from the collection, so far.
The Story I read was ‘She Wasn’t Soft’. It is quite different than ‘Chicxulub’ but is still has lots of depth. Paula Turk, a 28 year old biathlete knows that she is destined for greatness. She competed to win. However, her boyfriend Jason, owns a surf and dive shop and doesn’t want anything more. At 33, he only keeps his shop open part time, pretty much when he feels like it. His parents bought the shop for him, hoping that he would make something of himself but the shop doesn’t make a profit due to the short time he keeps it open.. It he prefers to surf and hang out on the beach.
On Paula’s birthday she wanted to stay home by herself and eat healthy food, to prepare herself for an upcoming competition. However, Jason wanted to take her out and celebrate and she gave in and went. While at the restaurant, Paula’s fiercest competitor came in. Paula wanted to avoid her but Jason was drunk and made a scene.
I don’t want to risk spoilers so am not going to tell anymore of the story. I really enjoyed this story, as I said, it does have lots of depth. It didn’t wow me like ‘Chicxulub’ did but there are some nice twists that kept the story moving along and it was well written. Boyle really know how to capture the human spirit both good and bad. I recommend this story.
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