Bought a book of short stories by T C Boyle recently - After the Plague. I haven't read anything by him before, but am definitely impressed. It's racy, quirky, hard-hitting stuff; the best kind of American lit. Which of his books should I read next?

He's good. I first read him in high school (he was on the syllabus) and later discovered a collection of short stories that were absolutely hilarious...the title is escaping me now, but I gave a copy to my dad (who's not a huge fiction reader) and they went down a treat...

I like his stuff very much. Would thoroughly recommend The Tortilla Curtain and Talk Talk.

Great - I'll give those a try.

he was on the syllabus

Wow, Canadian syllabi (?? plural of syllabus??) are much more advanced than UK ones!

I love TC Boyle. Don't know why he isn't so popular in the UK. His books are all so different in style and subject but I haven't read a bad one yet.
First got into him years ago when I couldn't sleep and found The Road to Welville on TV at 3 in the morning, and then found the book in my library.


Water Music, which I think was his first novel, is very funny.
Road to Welville good too - film is OK as well.

But my favourite was Drop City - about a group of hippies who move from California to Alaska after their commune shuts down.

If you like his short stories there is a paperback containing a few of his collections available on Amazon for under a tenner.