<DIV><b>T.C. Boyle</b> was first feted as a master of the short story for his critically acclaimed <b>Greasy Lake</b>. With these stories applauded by <b>People</b> magazine as "wickedly comical," he displays once again a virtuosity and versatility rare in literary America today. <b>Without a Hero</b> zooms in on American phenomena such as a center for the treatment of acquisitive disorders; a couple in search of the last toads on earth; and a real estate wonder boy on a dude safari near convenient Bakerfield, California. <p> Sharp, guileful, and malevolently funny, Boyle's stories are "more than funny, better than wicked," says <b>The Philadelphia Inquirer</b>. "They make you cringe with their clarity." </div>