T.C. Boyle's new book 'After the Plague' is comprised of stories that have been previously published in places such as The New Yorker, Esquire, and 'Best American Short Stories.' Boyle delivers to the reader a copious variety of characters, situations, and settings.
He opens with 'Termination Dust,' the tale of a lonely Alaskan man and his quickly inflamed passion for a visiting Californian woman, whose affection he will bid for, literally, in a charity auction that offers dates with women. 'Termination Dust' moves swiftly from mild jealousy to deadly obsession and highlights the collection's recurring theme of self-denial.
'After the Plague' is often timely, tackling topics such as teen pregnancy, which may have been plucked directly from the headlines. Other times it revels so much in the absurd that character epiphanies seem like punch lines. The title story is an example of this, with a narrator who witnesses the demise of humanity, yet maintains his wry sense of humor. 'After the Plague' is for readers who delight in the irreverent but can deal with the hard edge of modern life.
The Daily Cardinal was able to talk with T.C. Boyle about his new collection of short stories.
For a collection of short stories, is that a process where you say, 'Now I'm going to sit down and write a book of short stories'? Or do they accumulate individually and one day you realize you have enough to make a collection?
Here's the way it works. I write a novel. I get very tired of writing novels and in the interim I've had ideas for stories, so I start charging into them. Usually I write a bunch of stories for six or nine months, then I lose those ideas and begin to start a new novel. After that novel is done then I'll have another period of stories. Those two periods add up to one book, which is the case here with 'After the Plague.'
In 'After the Plague,' one story will be about teen-parent murderers and the next will deal with Internet porn. Did you have any say in the placement of the stories?
Of course; I am the one who wrote this book. I devised it and I put it together. I deliver it to the publisher and they can buy it or not. I would never compromise; I would listen to advice maybe but I would never compromise what I want.
Many UW-Madison students are enrolled in the creative writing program. How important do you think it is for a college student who's serious about writing to enroll in an MFA program?
I believe in writing programs. I am the product of a writing program and of an undergraduate course which turned me onto writing in the first place.
Practically all writers today have gone through an MFA program; I can't name any who haven't. I think what it does is give you a chance to have an apprenticeship.
In the generation previous to mine, the World War II generation and beyond down ... there were no writing programs. The idea was you learn to write from reading books and gaining experience in the world and then you write. In those days though there were great editors like Maxwell Perkins who could take a young writer and do what teachers do'help the writer develop.
I think we younger writers, younger than that generation, all need to have some sort of guidance in a program as some sort of apprenticeship so when we do deliver a manuscript to the publisher it doesn't need that kind of editing, because the editor's incapable of giving it. That being said, of course, there are individuals who write the way we all learn to write, by reading. They could be stuck in a weather station in Greenland and write the greatest novel that ever happened.
