The Goodreads summary for The Relive Box by T. C. Boyle starts by describing it as a collection of “raucous” short stories.  To me, raucous means rowdy, which didn’t quite fit. So, out came the dictionary, which says that – in fact – raucous means “making or constituting a disturbingly harsh and loud noise”, and this makes a lot more sense because one of the words I had written down after finishing the book and was preparing for my review was disturbing.
I also wrote down dark, cold and depressing; there is little in these stories that could be described as hopeful – maybe the end of Are We Not Men?, which left me feeling somewhat optimistic .  The rest, if I’m honest, left me feeling depressed.  The world they present, which is probably our not to distant future if we don’t play our cards right, isn’t one I want to live in. 
There are themes that run through the stories – technology taking over our lives in a not-so-good way in The Relive Box so that a father and daughter’s relationship completely falls apart; global warming destroying our planet and communities in Surtsey and You Don’t Miss Your Water (‘Til The Well Runs Dry); illnesses no antibiotics can cure in The Fugtive; and the idea that we deserve more than we have in The Five-Pound Burrito and She’s The Bomb.
By the time I was done, not only did I feel depressed and down on life, I also felt exhausted because – despite how dark and unoptimistic the stories were – they were also compelling and incredibly well written.  Once I’d started, I couldn’t put this book down.  Each tale told a complete story and had characters that jumped off the page.
And they made me think.  I would deny anyone not to finish this book and not think how do we stop this happening?  With this in mind, it probably won’t be a book for everyone but, for me, it was perfect.  I loved it.

TC Boyle is a fine novelist but, if you want to see this literary eagle soar, you need to read his short stories. Boyle shows why he’s one of the best short story writers in the world with his latest brilliant collection, The Relive Box and Other Stories.

The stories themselves don’t sound like much when describing them to others, particularly if you’ve never read him before, but the writing is masterful with the tone frequently striking an appealing blend of humour and drama. Boyle’s many talents include the ability to effortlessly draw the reader into nearly each tale almost instantly.

Take my favourite story here, The Designee, where an elderly widower falls for a “Nigerian Prince”-type email scam. The setup is almost too straightforward that I kept thinking that Boyle must throw in a curveball at some point to subvert it but the story plays out without any surprises. And I didn’t mind at all because the storytelling, the writing, the dialogue, and the characters are all so magnetic that it was compelling to read every foreseeable step of the way.

Theft and Other Issues was a close second fave. A guy’s car is stolen with his girlfriend’s dog in the back seat leading to tension in their relationship. As always I couldn’t tell where Boyle was going with it but it was surprisingly funny and romantic too.

Other stories that stood out included Are We Not Men?, an amusing look at Crispr’s gene-editing technology, The Argentine Ant, about a maths professor and his family dealing with an ant infestation in a town full of weirdos, and The Five-Pound Burrito which is an unexpectedly magical realist tale of a Mexican food restaurateur who comes up with the gimmick of a five pound burrito which turns his place into the hottest place to eat - only to learn that his success comes with a strange price.

I won’t recount all of the twelve stories here but suffice it to say that I enjoyed nearly all of them. What I like the most about Boyle is that he doesn’t write a certain type of story over and over – certain themes like environmental catastrophe might repeat here and there across his career but he’s got a massive range so his stories are always unpredictable.

Like almost all short story collections, this one’s not flawless and I didn’t like a couple of stories. The Relive Box is an obvious and banal commentary on how the internet has consumed our lives while The Fugitive is a tedious and lifeless tale about a guy with an illness hounded by the authorities for not wearing a mask.

And this is a more general critique of Boyle’s style: he’s never been very good at endings. The stories tend to just stop. And it’s too abrupt, jarring and unsatisfying, particularly as they’re so enthralling. One minute you’re wrapped up in a tale, then suddenly it’s over! And this is a lesser criticism but the titles themselves are a bit unmemorable. When I looked at the contents page I couldn’t connect any of the stories with their titles.

Anyways, I mostly had a blast reading this one. I’ve loved his previous collections After The Plague and Tooth and Claw and The Relive Box didn’t disappoint. I highly recommend any of TC Boyle’s short story collections.

Usually I do not choose to read books made up of short stories. They usually do not catch my attention as novels do. But something about this book made me read it, and I am happy that I did.

The stories was a window into different peoples life. They were exiting and trilling. I wondered what had happened in the persons life before the story started, and I definitely wondered how it continued. That is a treat I feel most short stories I have read lack. I therefore was quite exited to read this book.

Because the stories got me thinking it took some time to get through it. I do not recoment to just jump from one story to another, as the stories got you thinking. The best way I can explain this book is to say that it reminded me of the tv-series Black Mirror, just in writing, and I love how it pulled through.

Mildly enjoyed the title story the Relive Box and the story titled Are We Not Men? but the other stories in this collection I had to force myself to slog through. Not worth the read for two stories.

In a nutshell:
Unpleasant characters in situations of their own making feeling sorry for themselves while screwing others over.

I do not think there was a single main character in these stories that was not seriously unpleasant, self-important, arrogant, and whiny. While this might not be a problem for other readers, I have recently come to accept that I do like my characters to have some redeeming qualities. This is especially true for short stories where you only have a limited amount of time with the characters. For the stories to resonate, I have to have some understanding for the characters. These did not feel real in the sense that I sure hope that people are more well-rounded than this (call me hopelessly optimistic if you will).

I also found the stories' plots left a lot to be desired; the premises felt derivative and not inventive enough to distract from the characters I found unpleasant. Here I enjoyed the more speculative stories more than the realistic ones. This is especially true for the last three stories: these did not work for me and I finally gave up and skim-read the rest.

I have been reading a lot of short fiction this last year; it is a genre I have found a whole new appreciation for. When short stories are done well, they pack an unbelievable punch - but on the other side, if the stories do not work for me, they absolutely do not work for me. This time, I struggled. A whole lot.