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La Conchita

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La Conchita

By: T. C. Boyle
Narrated by: T. C. Boyle
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About this listen

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

Gordon is a delivery driver with a predilection toward road rage, and he's on the most important delivery of his life. In Santa Barbara there's a mother of three on life support waiting for Gordon, waiting for the liver he's transporting from Los Angeles. But there's a mudslide, and cars are being swept away, people being buried in the sludge. And Gordon, who's as far from a hero as they come, has to find a way to get the liver to Santa Barbara.

©2013 T. C. Boyle (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Christmas Winter Short Stories
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I just couldn't resist another of T.C.Doyle's short stories, offered as a free download with the Audible Plus , and masterfully read by the author also. Told from the first person's p.o.v., the reader experiences with Gordon, a delivery truck driver, the fear and panic caught with other traffic in a mud slide blocking the road and covering houses in the little town of Conchita. The writing is very visual, almost tactile, the urgency of his situation intensified by the nature of his cargo.
Would have liked a few more sentences to reveal what finally happened - the ending seemed abrupt - but a totally engrossing read

"Just tell me what to do.."

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the tram dilemma, transposed in a story where a man transporting a liver for donation witnesses a car accident on the road and is asked for help, which life has higher priority?
good short story.

good short story

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CW: Natural Disaster (Mud Slide), People Trapped Underground, Guns

I'm not sure exactly how I feel after listening to this very short story. As a moment in the life of a really not so great guy having his anti-hero moment it's definitely interesting. I suppose I just don't *get* it, which is fine. Not everything is for me or even needs a reason I can puzzle out and others seem to have lobed this story, so your mileage may vary.

For me, the protagonist was a mess, but not necessarily enough to be empathised with or morbidly curious about. There's some wild throwaway comments about his gun use that are genuinely interesting with how they are glossed over and a just repellent and gross thought process he has about a lady trying to save her buried family that made me really, really uncomfortable -- this could well have been the point and so it was effective, but I don't really understand to what end.

The narration by the author I also have mixed feelings about, as some of the pronunciation is a little odd (including the titular name of the town as mentioned by a local in another review), and the frenetic pace of the performance both adds to the tension, but is kinda unwieldy and hard to follow.

Ultimately, this just wasn't for me, but the writing is of a high quality and I'm interested in reading more from the author. I think this is a densely packed story that would be richer being gone over and dug into, but I didn't enjoy it or care enough to do that.

Mixed Feelings

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I really enjoyed it and what was really important was that I didn’t have any idea of how it would end

One of the best stories

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Action, tragedy and a great Antihero. Grand. Fantastic telling by the Author. Loved it

Great story

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