T.+Coraghessan+Boyle+Biography+Discussion


 * "T. Coraghessan Boyle", 2 May, 2007.** **www.wikipedia.com****; "Biographical Information", 2 May, 2007. www.tcboyle.net/bio.html**

TC Boyle draws many parallels from his characters in //Tortilla Curtain// to his own experiences:

As a child, T.C. was never in the smart group of kids at school. He was taking basic classes while many of his fellow classmates were doing biger and better things than him. He had to struggle with concepts that everyone else understood so easily and took for granted. At the end of his high school career he changed his midlle name from John to Coraghessan. "Coraghessan" is a Gealic term meaning "take teo and call me in the morning." He graduated from the State University of New York at Potsdam majoring in history and English. He originally wanted to be a musician, but lacked the discipline and skill that it requires. The next four years he spent teaching at his highschool alma mater where his mother was a secretary and his father a janitor. He did it because he wanted to teach kids from his hometown: " Some of my students were tough kids, semiliterate, violent. I was 21, and most of them had repeated years, so they were maybe 19. It was hard. But it was either that or get drafted." He continued to write, and one of his stories published in //The North American Review// earned him acceptance to the University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop in 1972. He went on to recieve his M.F.A. in Fiction in 1974 and his Ph.D. in British Literature in 1977 both from the University of Iowa. He has written over sixty short stories and eleven novels. He currently is a professor of creative writing at the University odf Southern California and continues to write novels.

Activity:

Everybody think of a time when you have been the target of discrimination and share it with the group. Think of exactly how it felt to be treated differently for some obscure reason. Then compare this feeling to what the Rincons are experiencing in America and the treatment they recieve for being illegal Mexican immigrants.


 * 1) How are Boyle's parents similar to the Rincons?
 * 2) How were Boyle's experiences as achild similar to those that America and Candido are currently feeling in the U.S.?
 * 3) TC lacked the discipline to play an instrument, who else in this story is undisciplined? Look for both their actions and their beliefs to influence this.
 * 4) Who does TC Boyle most remind you of in the novel?
 * 5) WHy do you think Boyle chose to write about illegal immigration, given his past of the northern East Coast?