T.C. Boyle's new novel explores the perils of rejecting authority

In a novel that begins and ends with violence, T.C. Boyle uses the circumstances of troubled lives to explore the inner thoughts of those who would reject authority.

"The Harder They Come" centers on three people who navigate the restrictions of modern society.

It opens with the unsettling story of Sten Stenson, a Vietnam vet and retired high school principal, who is in remarkable shape for a 70-year-old.

"Sten and his wife Carolee are on a cruise in Costa Rica. And they are on a bus going to a tourist site and the bus is attacked by three young assailants," Boyle said. "Sten acts instinctively and grabs one of them in the choke hold and ends up killing him with his bare hands — for which he is celebrated when he comes back to the U.S."

From there, the tension builds.

Though shaken by what occurred, Sten has to quickly put it behind him on his return home, as he deals with his son Adam, who is clearly disturbed and obsessed with living like a mountain man. He resists getting any help, preferring to live, heavily armed, in a camouflaged encampment in the woods.

The final character in the drama is Sara, who picks up Adam one day when he's hitchhiking.

"She's a 40-year-old divorcee and she's a member of the Sovereign Citizens Movement, a far-right-wing movement here in the U.S. that doesn't recognize any governmental authority," Boyle said. "They don't want to wear seat belts, they don't want to pay taxes, and they don't obey any regulations."

Furious because her beloved dog is in the pound after biting a cop, Sara enlists Adam to help get back her pet. He leaps at the chance for a little military-style operation. Soon they are on the lam and lovers, even as Sara gets nervous about Adam's insistence on carrying his rifle everywhere.

"I'm trying to get at some idea of American anti-authoritarianism," said Boyle. "And violence. In this case gun violence. Where is it coming from?"

Boyle slides readers inside his characters' heads. Despite what they do, they don't seem that different from anyone else.

Boyle said he wants readers not to necessarily agree with Sara, Adam and Sten, but perhaps sympathize with them.

"You know, we are taught from elementary school to be skeptical of authority, not to march in lockstep with everyone else: to be independent," he said. "But again, where does my freedom encroach on your freedom? And how do we agree to respect each other and have a society?"

The questions aren't meant to be lofty ones. Boyle can't help but note the signs found outside many public parks, and the reaction they engender — at least in him.

"You know, no fornicating, no urinating, no setting the grass on fire, no jumping from the bridge. I don't necessarily want to do those things, but as soon as I read that list, I want to do ALL those things," he said with a laugh. "And you know that somebody has done them, and if there weren't prohibitions there would be no park. There would just be scorched earth."

"The Harder They Come" is a tense, compelling, read. It's clear the story will end in disaster, but unclear for whom. Spooked by the apparent threat of a mass killing, the authorities move in and all three of the characters have to decide what is right and wrong, and who ends up as a hero or a villain.

"I write about these issues, not because I have a solution but because I want to broaden the debate," Boyle said. "And I think if anything in 'The Harder They Come,' maybe I am making people more aware so they can come to some determination on their own. Or maybe not!"

Boyle is in Minnesota to speak to the huge AWP literary conference in Minneapolis, and then to read at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Edina at 1 p.m. Saturday. He said part of his message is the importance of books in this plugged in age of the 24-hour news cycle.

"I love to remind particularly high school and college students that a novel is not simply something that you read in class for the dreaded term paper," he said. "It's subversive, it's cool; it's something that will take you a place where no other form of art can take you."