Truth and Consequences with A.M. Homes and T.C. Boyle

In our first work, T.C. Boyle’s “Top of the Food Chain,” a government program wreaks havoc with Mother Nature. The story was originally published in Harper’s magazine in 1993, but now seems eerily prescient. Boyle is the author of 27 books of fiction (“It’s my job,” he comments in some interview material we’ve included in the program—a job that means figuring out where a story is going to go after that enticing first line.) His published works include the novels World’s End, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award; Drop City, a New York Times bestseller and finalist for the National Book Award; The Terranauts; and the short story collections Greasy Lake and Other Stories, After the Plague, T.C. Boyle Stories, T.C. Boyle Stories II, and most recently, The Relive Box and Other Stories. His works have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, Granta, and The Paris Review, among other publications. Boyle won the PEN/Malamud Award for the Short Story and the Rea Award for the Short Story in 2014.

“Top of the Food Chain,” is performed by Zach Grenier. He is most often recognized for his role as David Lee on “The Good Wife.” He has also played series regulars on “BrainDead;” “C16:FBI;” and “Touching Evil;” had recurring roles on “24” and “Deadwood,” and has most recently appeared in “Chicago P.D.;” “The Good Fight;” and “Blindspot.” His film credits include “A Shock to the System;” “Tommy Boy;” “Donnie Brasco;” “Fight Club;” “Zodiac;” “J. Edgar;” and “Crown Heights.” On stage, he was most recently seen in “Kings” at the Public Theater. Previous stage credits include Cromwell in “A Man for All Seasons” at the Roundabout Theatre Company and the role of Dick Cheney in David Hare’s “Stuff Happens” at the New York Shakespeare Festival. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Beethoven in Moisés Kaufman’s “33 Variations.”

If our first story left devastation in its wake, our second is a playful and hopeful fantasy about the American way of life. In “A Prize for Every Player” a family shopping at a big box store is transformed by a series of happy accidents. Homes is the author of the memoir The Mistress’s Daughter, the short story collections The Safety of Objects, Things You Should Know, Days of Awe, and the novels Jack, In a County of Mothers, The End of Alice, Music for Torching, This Book Will Save Your Life, and May We Be Forgiven, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, NYFA, and The Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the NYPL, along with the Benjamin Franklin Award, and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. She has published fiction and essays in the New Yorker, Granta, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, One Story, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair, where she is a contributing editor. Additionally, she serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Yaddo and on the Board of Poets and Writers and teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Princeton. In brief remarks included in this show, she credits a wild imagination for the fun of writing—work doesn’t have to be true to the author, but only to the characters, she says.

Our host Jane Curtin is the reader, and relished the way this Homes story has “a giggle” hidden inside it.

Curtin has appeared on Broadway in “Noises Off,” "Candida,” and “Our Town.” Her off-Broadway work includes “Love Letters” and the musical revue “Pretzels,” which she co-wrote. She starred in the television series “3rd Rock from the Sun” and won back-to-back Emmy Awards for her role in “Kate & Allie.” She is an original cast member of “Saturday Night Live” and also starred in the television film series “The Librarian” and its recent spin-off, “The Librarians.” Her film credits include “Coneheads;” “Antz;”” I Love You, Man;” “I Don’t Know How She Does It;” and “The Heat.” She most recently starred on the television series “Unforgettable” and has had guest appearances on “The Good Wife;” “48 Hours ’til Monday;” and “Broad City.”