T.C. Boyle will appear at the Boulder Book Store Tuesday for what he calls a performance of his two most recent books, his ninth short story collection, Wild Child, and the paperback release of his twelfth novel, The Women, which examines the life of architect Frank Lloyd Wright from the perspectives of the women in his life. I interviewed Boyle on the phone from his home in California. We spoke about his writing process, his favorite themes of natural disasters and the animal nature of humanity, and his thoughts on the future of books.
New West: Last time I interviewed you, for Talk Talk in 2007, you described The Women as being part of your egomanics of the 20th century series, along with Alfred Kinsey in The Inner Circle and John Kellogg of The Road to Wellville.
T.C. Boyle: I'll cop to that.
NW: Are you done with egomaniacs? You said it was a trilogy.
TCB: Well I guess so, at least for now. For the next novel I've returned to my environmental themes. It's a novel set on the California Channel Islands about the big fight over the ecological restoration. It's called When The Killing Is Done. Because of Wild Child it won't be out until March of next year. But I'm sure there are more egomanicas out there, lurking in the wings.
