Descent of Man

Seventeen short stories from the New York Times bestselling author of The Tortilla Curtain, “the sort of writer who inspires even poker-faced writers to grin and start dusting off their superlatives” (The Washington Post Book World).

“Descent of Man is loaded with energetic language. . . . Boyle is capable of the sublime.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
In seventeen slices of life that defy the expected and launch us into the absurd, T.C. Boyle offers his unique view of the world. A primate-center researcher becomes romantically involved with a chimp; a Norse poet overcomes bard-block; collectors compete to snare the ancient Aztec beer can, Quetzalcóatl Lite; and Lassie abandons Timmy for a randy coyote.
 
Dark humor, delirious fantasy, and surreal satire come together in this collection that brilliantly expresses just what the “evolution” of mankind has wrought.T. C. Boyle is a novelist and regular contributor to The New Yorker. His novels include World’s End and The Tortilla Curtain, and he has also published numerous collections of short stories. A Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Southern California, he lives in Santa Barbara.