Talk Talk
by
T.C. Boyle
The bestselling author of The Inner Circle and Drop City returns with a timely new novel about a woman in desperate pursuit of a man who has stolen her identity
The first time Bridger saw Dana she was dancing barefoot, her hair aflame in the red glow of the club, her body throbbing with rhythms and cross-rhythms that only she could hear. He was mesmerized. That night the...more
The first time Bridger saw Dana she was dancing barefoot, her hair aflame in the red glow of the club, her body throbbing with rhythms and cross-rhythms that only she could hear. He was mesmerized. That night the...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
July 11th 2006
by Viking Adult
(first published January 1st 2006)
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Books that Embody an Artistic Expression of the Disability Experience.
14th out of 104 books
—
62 voters
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i really like the cover of this book. the perfect white teeth, no ridges on the edges, the beautiful red lip. it has nothing to do with the book – the image i mean. or the title. the title has nothing to do with the book either. and you know what? it's a real shame, because i don't know how many good novels there are that depict the deaf experience but, me, i haven't come across any other than this, and t.c. boyle is a great writer who can write intelligently about all sorts of things, but on th...more
The title refers to the habit deaf people have of vocalising – often unconsciously, since they cannot hear themselves doing it – while signing. They are communicating in two ways at once, hence ‘Talk Talk’.
The ‘heroine’ of this book, Dana Halter, is deaf. Her identity is stolen by one William ‘Peck’ Wilson, resulting in great trauma for her when she is pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Wilson has a string of violations under the name Dana Halter and she is arrested, remanded...more
The ‘heroine’ of this book, Dana Halter, is deaf. Her identity is stolen by one William ‘Peck’ Wilson, resulting in great trauma for her when she is pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Wilson has a string of violations under the name Dana Halter and she is arrested, remanded...more
This is the twentieth book I read on my commute, another modern lit novel, but not a comedy. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to label the type of story this narrative represents (which probably speaks well of the book in and of itself). It's not a coming-of-age story, or an adventure story, or a love story, although it has some minor superficial resemblances to all of those. It's a story wherein non-ordinary things happen to ordinary people, which draws them into conflict, but there's no good way f...more
Laura
rated it
The two protagonists, Dana and Bridger, were thrust into a horrible situation when Dana's identity was stolen, but the pair really didn't handle the problem realistically or well, which was aggravating to read (Bridger phoning the identity thief--and using his own personal cell to do it, no less--never seemed like a good idea to me). On top of this, the antagonist, about whom every other chapter is devoted, is so unrepentantly evil--absolutely no ambiguity there--that I found him just painfully...more
Dana Halter is deaf and teaches at a deaf school in LA. One day she runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a cop. The police take her in and throw her in jail, thinking she is wanted for a series of crimes. It turns out she is the victim of identity theft. A sleazebag has stolen her name and run up huge bills. After she gets herself out of jail, she and her boyfriend, Bridger Martin, go to seek out the perpetrator. The police are not interested in doing so.Bridger and Dana end up chasing the t...more
A good book on the victims of the "victimless" crime of identity theft and the chase to find the thief himself. The interesting thing about this book, other than the fact that main female character, Dana Halter, is deaf, is how Boyle has created a criminal in the form of William "Peck" Wilson who evinces feelings of both empathy and anger over a man who is forced to steal other's identities in order to live comfortably. The destruction that both the thief and the victim and h...more
Kirstie
rated it
Recommends it for:
Those interested in the experience of someone with a disability and identity theft
This book is a great deal about being deaf in America, the way you are treated and the helplessness you might feel when so many agencies, including the criminal justice system fail you completely. It's about the prejudices of everyone from the ignorant waitress to your hearing boyfriend's mother. It's filled with incisive tragedies that can make up someone's every day experiences, not to mention some larger dramatic ones that involve major destruction.
But this book is also about the ...more
But this book is also about the ...more
I love TC Boyle, love his richly described worlds, his conflict-ridden rollercoaster plots. This one was definitely worth the headlong plunge, a deaf woman who becomes victim of an identity theft, and the ensuing alternation between her story and that of her lover, a special effects artist who becomes deeply involved in the pursuit of the culprit, and the sociopathic identity thief, another one of Boyle's wonderful narcissist rageaholic antagonists. However, it wasn't a perfect book, in that it...more
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/20...
T.C. Boyle's identity crisis
Personal-information theft sparks character's quest for revenge
Jenny Shank, Special to the News
Published July 7, 2006 at midnight
Over his career, T.C. Boyle has earned a number of distinctions - including regular publication in The New Yorker, a PEN/Faulkner Award and a nomination for a National Book Award - that would qualify him as a member of what Oprah-basher Jonathan Franzen so endearin...more
T.C. Boyle's identity crisis
Personal-information theft sparks character's quest for revenge
Jenny Shank, Special to the News
Published July 7, 2006 at midnight
Over his career, T.C. Boyle has earned a number of distinctions - including regular publication in The New Yorker, a PEN/Faulkner Award and a nomination for a National Book Award - that would qualify him as a member of what Oprah-basher Jonathan Franzen so endearin...more
Boyle, T. C. TALK TALK. (2006). ***. Here’s a novel that explores the nightmare of identity theft and the effects it has on peoples’ lives. The twist here is that the victim, Dana, is a deaf woman who has a hard enough time dealing with life under normal circumstances. While on her way to a dentist appointment one morning, she slid through a stop sign and was immediately pulled over by a policemen. After taking her license and registration, he comes back with his gun out and makes her ste...more
Does T.C. Boyle ever write a book that isn't simply superb? Unputdownable story of a stolen identity and a mismatched couple with strong undercurrents seething underneath their relationship -- which the oddball turn of events will soon force to the surface.
As to the fact that one of the protagonists is deaf ... I think the characterization of Dana is so strong, that I'm not sure it really *is* about her deafness, really. I mean, there are moments when one appreciates her "othern...more
As to the fact that one of the protagonists is deaf ... I think the characterization of Dana is so strong, that I'm not sure it really *is* about her deafness, really. I mean, there are moments when one appreciates her "othern...more
The exposition's a bit weak, and that leaves one questioning from the start the reality of a work that is trying to explore how people manufacture their own realities (and then how those realities clash with the realities of others). On that level the thing felt unfinished; the necessary work hadn't been done, but you could see how with a bit more polishing it would have been delicious all the way through.
Whenever I suspended my disbelief for five minutes, a puppet string would be l...more
Whenever I suspended my disbelief for five minutes, a puppet string would be l...more
After hearing Stephen Colbert read Boyle's short story "The Lie" on NPR's program Selected Shorts I decided to follow more of Boyle's work. I liked Talk Talk because the characters were easily relatable. They're real. They remind me of people I know, or could know, and I even got annoyed with them as I could with any good friend. But I still liked them, even when I didn't like how they behaved. Even the antagonist stuck to the gray areas and while I never really rooted for him, it was ...more
The "chase-scene-as-plot-structure" can be an exhausting thing. The chaos, the misunderstandings, the almosts, and coincidences. It can all decompose into a sloppy, cartoonish stink. Racing to finish the book instead of reading and enjoying the tension and feeling the characters' burdens. Typically, I consider this the lazy writing of an author with a to-do list -- a wacky hijinks quota.
"Talk Talk" by TC Boyle is a welcome exception.
It opens with Dan...more
"Talk Talk" by TC Boyle is a welcome exception.
It opens with Dan...more
All right, I finally finished this one. About halfway through I realized it had the potential to be a huge stinker, and I'm sorry to say that was borne out. While T.C. Boyle is a very good writer--The Tortilla Curtain is a work of the highest art--what keeps him from being a great one is that he tries to do too much sometimes.
Talk Talk is supposed to be a thriller, Ok? And I'm all right with an author playing around with the conventions of a genre, but only when it's cool and fr...more
Talk Talk is supposed to be a thriller, Ok? And I'm all right with an author playing around with the conventions of a genre, but only when it's cool and fr...more
Jonna
added it
Eric got me this when Reuben was in the hospital, because he knows I like Boyle. Of course I finished it because the story is so engrossing, but I just didn't get it or didn't like it. I didn't believe the ending, in particular --that after a cross-country chase and a particularly unbelievable fist fight/assault, Dana would just give up her quest for her impersonator. I never really understood the narrative point of her deafness -- it inflected her personality, and the drive of the narrative,...more
When Dana Halter, a deaf teacher living in Calfornia, is taken into custody following a traffic offense, she learns that her identity has been taken over by a man who she's never met. With nothing more than a faxed copy of the man's mug shot to work from, she and her boyfriend set out to find the scoundrel. What follows is essentially a good, old-fashioned tale of pursuit and revenge. I have been wanting to read a T.C. Boyle novel for a while, having received several recommendations during the p...more
I'm on a crazy book binge this month. It helps that I didn't go to work due to an ice storm in Tulsa so just lounged around the house in my pajamas all day. This is the tenth novel of Boyle's I've read--counted them, I haven't missed a novel he's done--plus a couple of short story collections. Just on sheer numbers, I don't think I've read more stuff by any other writer. So, I guess you could say he's a favorite of mine.
Talk Talk is kind of different for Boyle. It's a thriller actually...more
Talk Talk is kind of different for Boyle. It's a thriller actually...more
T.C. Boyle never fails to find a topic that is unusual and take it further. Although, this book reminded me of a couple of Dan Chaon books, one being AWAIT YOUR REPLY. TALK,TALK is about identity theft just like AWAIT YOUR REPLY. In this one, Boyle's protagonist is a beautiful, deaf woman named Dana. Dana, after she finds out that her identity has been stolen, with awful ramifications, sets out with the help of her boyfriend to track down the person who is using her identity. I came to hate...more
He used the word "crepitating" before page 18. I remember that word!
I finished Talk, Talk last night. One of my thoughts after finishing is that law enforcement is just not equipped to bring identity thieves to justice. It even bears an elite title of "white-collar crime." Boyle's story illustrates how easy it is for someone to steal your life without violence. William Peck Wilson is a gourmet cook, enough wine knowledge to be a sommalier. He is all about living th...more
I finished Talk, Talk last night. One of my thoughts after finishing is that law enforcement is just not equipped to bring identity thieves to justice. It even bears an elite title of "white-collar crime." Boyle's story illustrates how easy it is for someone to steal your life without violence. William Peck Wilson is a gourmet cook, enough wine knowledge to be a sommalier. He is all about living th...more
I'm very glad I took a break from digging through Ulysses to read this. I have always been a fan of T.C. Boyle, and this book is written in the same very readable yet eloquent style. It takes a new twist on his usual theme of the clashing of cultures, showing contrasts and vulnerabilities in both sides, to the a more personal level to explore identity. What we refer to as "identity" - name, social security number etc. - can so easily be transported between individuals, but there is som...more
This book was just ok. I was sucked in by the premise - a deaf woman who had her identity stolen. I was expecting more of an action book that this turned out to be. While there is tension and drama, there's also a lot of driving in the car and descriptions of random things.
I like that we got to see the perspective of the 2 main characters as well as the the thief. Although you have to read through the first paragraph or more to find out which perspective you are in each time there is ...more
I like that we got to see the perspective of the 2 main characters as well as the the thief. Although you have to read through the first paragraph or more to find out which perspective you are in each time there is ...more
I know several people who say that this is not one of T.C. Boyle's best books, but for me it was! It was perfect for reading on holiday, and I could imagine it would also be perfect if you were in labour :-), since it is a gripping and fast-paced read, you always want to know what happens next. The heroine, Dana, is deaf, and that is a great new invention which opens up a whole lot of new plot possibilities - and the author makes good use of them. A man has stolen Dana's identity, and she and he...more
TC Boyle's novels cover many disparate themes and topics; to pigeonhole any of them into a particular genre might dissuade a reader from reading a novel. This one is the first that one might be tempted to call a "thriller", but I'd caution you to not seek out the thrilling aspects of this novel: read it for the characters and Boyle's description of them. The protagonists in question are a deaf English professor and her boyfriend, the antagonist is a guy who steals her identity. If ...more
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Bookmarks Magazine
added it
In his 18th book of fiction, T. C. Boyle wildly impresses some critics (as he often does) but leaves a few critics wanting more. The slick, page-turning plot becomes "sadly undermined by a forced, slap-dash ending that feels as if it had been grafted on at the last minute" (New York Times). That aside, Boyle's first entry in the suspense genre is a welcome addition that showcases his rich characterizations and high-flying prose. In Talk Talk, the ease of assuming a new identity appear
...more
First let me start off by saying that I loved, loved, loved Drop City. It was such an amazing book. This book started off no differently... in fact, I'm noticing a trend in his books where the narrative shifts from character to character (granted, this is the second book I've read) ... I like that, I can experience what each character is feeling. It gives the sense of multiple stories within a story. However, after the beginning, I found myself wanting to skip over Dana's narrative... she be...more
This was pretty disappointing. It is my second TC Boyle book, and I loved the first I read--Tortilla Curtain--so much. While this one was equally frustrating to be an observer of the injustice and unfairness that happens all the time, the story itself, or the characters, or ...I dunno, something just wasn't as good.
Or maybe just because it was about identity theft and that's about as scary as it gets--too scary for me? I don't know. But I was able to put it down and read this month'...more
Or maybe just because it was about identity theft and that's about as scary as it gets--too scary for me? I don't know. But I was able to put it down and read this month'...more
I really enjoyed this book and liked it better than Drop City. It was a quick read and and a page-turner. And thought some might not like the ending, I did.
By the middle of the book, maybe sooner, I guiltily began to read with only the intent of finishing the story for completion's sake--not to unveil the ending that I (correctly) assumed would occur. Kudos for nailing human emotions and personal thoughts in numerous and brief bursts of creative writing--but it just wasn't consistent or compact enough to capture my full interest, particularly against the backdrop of a predictable and drawn-out storyline. Theft and a cross country chase that lasts t...more
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T. Coraghessan Boyle (also known as T.C. Boyle, born Thomas John Boyle on December 2, 1948) is a U.S. novelist and short story writer. Since the late 1970s, he has published eleven novels and more than 60 short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1988 for his third novel, World's End, which recounts 300 years in upstate New York. He is married with three children. Boyle has been a Distinguis...more
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