Steve Almond on T. C. Boyle.

From the Boston Globe:

There has never been any doubt that T. C. Boyle can write. The question that has dogged his remarkable oeuvre is whether he can resist overwriting. ''Tooth and Claw," his seventh story collection, provides a familiar answer: not really.

...

I say all this as a longtime fan of Boyle's. There is little doubt he is one of the most inventive writers of our age. If only he felt more for his characters, and flogged the language less on their behalf, he might also be one of our finest.

T. C. Boyle is one of those authors that I've always meant to read but never gotten around to...  Where should I start?  Help, please. 

PS.  Still love Steve Almond.  Especially B.B. Chow.  Read it now!