Descent of Man

Book excerpt: 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.