#100 Sorry Fugu- T. Coraghessan Boyle
T.C. Boyle is a spectacular writer, one of my favorites.
Until now, I haven’t read much of his short fiction. A few months ago I heard
him give a reading for his most recent novel, The Harder They Come. During the
Q&A that followed he talked about short story collections. He said no
matter what you do, most people will love half the stories and hate half the
stories, and never the same half. It was his way of saying that he didn’t care
about reviews. But for me, somebody reading a bunch of short story collections
this year, it’s a good cautionary tale; not to judge an author by just one
story.
For now, all I can judge is this one story, and: so far so
good. Albert is a restaurateur, a chef and a food lover. Having been open only
a short time he has yet to be reviewed by the big local paper. The paper has
two reviewers who alternate weeks. One reviewer always loves the places she
eats and like a mother fawning over her children will find fault with naught.
“But this was Willa Frank’s week. And Willa Frank never
liked anything.”
He wanted Willa Frank, wanted her to taste his food, love
his food, rave about his food. But there are obstacles in his way, and the
day-to-day pitfalls of the kitchen. He sets out to overcome these challenges
and woo Willa Frank with everything he’s got.
Boyle has a unique cadence to his story telling that hits my
ear just perfect, so the writing itself is great. In his novels, part of the fun is
following the idiosyncrasies of his characters, the wackiness of people and the
odd things they do giving time and proper circumstance. The replacement dish-washer
for example would be someone in a longer form work that would potentially be
the funniest one to watch. I miss that a little in only 20 pages. But that said,
each form has its limits.
Notable Passage: “…to like something, to really like it and
come out and say so, is taking a terrible risk. I mean, what if I’m wrong? What
if it’s really no good?”
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