If the River Was Whiskey

In sixteen stories­—“writing at its very, very best” (USA Today)—the New York Times bestselling author of The Tortilla Curtain tears through the walls of contemporary society to reveal a world at once comic and tragic, droll and horrific.

“Boyle is a consummate entertainer, a verbal showman, an explosively gifted satirist.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
In If The River Was Whiskey, T.C. Boyle introduces us to a death-defying stuntman who rides across the country strapped to the axle of a Peterbilt, and to a retired primatologist who can’t adjust to the “civilized” world. He chronicles the state of romance that requires full-body protection in a disease-conscious age and depicts with aching tenderness the relationship between a young boy and his alcoholic father. These magical and provocative stories mark yet another virtuoso performance from one of America’s most supple and electric literary inventors.