The Lie

By: T. C. Boyle

Narrated by: T. C. Boyle

This short story from the collection Wild Child was originally published in the New Yorker.

Lonnie is tired. He's tired of his job, the monotony of it, and tired of the predictability ofhis home life now that he's a father. It's a day like every other day, and hecan't face the inevitability of it all. So he lies. It's a small lie, but heknows small lies become big ones. He knows it as soon as he says his daughteris in the hospital. But he can't stop himself, and he can't stop the lie fromtaking on a life of its own.

©2013 T.C. Boyle (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

Overboard T. C. Boyle

T. C. Boyle wraps himself around a big fish tale with this Big Lie story that starts comically, becomes cruel, then preposterous, and nearly redeems itself in the final lines as a character study of a tragically self-unaware narcissist. The voice is fittingly calm and the language is Boyle-esque overblown.

Interesting

One lie lead to another. It wasn't a favorite for me and the ending was odd.

I get it but meh

I understand what the author was doing. But I can’t say that I liked it. It definitely leaves you wondering about the aftermath of the liar’s life. Which is good in my opinion. But wow, such a far way to go. Let’s just say the main character is trash lol.

Convincing story. Well told. But horrific.

Typical Boyle tale, well read by the author, but its sad inevitability was difficult to bear. Good but I can’t say I enjoyed it.

I deal with this daily

wish I could have liked it but as HR, I get these calls daily on sick kids, dying Grandma's and husband's etc. I cannot believe people have the audacity to say they can't come to work because their kid died. What happens if something actually does happen to the kid? People suck.

I didn’t want it to end.

I really enjoyed the story. I was interested from the start. There’s a great lesson to be learned here, in how a little lie can escalate. My only wish was that the story kept going 😊