The fourteen stories in this rich new collection display T.C. Boyle s astonishing range and imaginative muscle. Nature is the dominant player in many of these stories, whether in the form of a catastrophic mudslide that allows a cynic to reclaim his humanity or in Boyle s powerfully original retelling of the story of Victor, the feral boy who was captured running naked through the forests of Napoleonic France a moving and magical investigation of what it means to be human. Other tales range from the drama of a man who spins Homeric lies in order to stop going to work to the sad comedy of a child born to Mexican street vendors who is unable to feel pain. Brilliant, incisive, and always engaging, Boyle s short stories showcase the mischievous humor and socially conscious sensibility that have made him one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.