Short-story writer and novelist T.C. Boyle, known for his depiction of nature as an often random and brutal force, is presented here in a formal public reading of "Chicxulub." The story juxtaposes a cataclysmic collision that occurred on earth 65 million years ago with a more immediate familial disaster-the loss of a child. Interspersed throughout are analytic commentaries by professional educators and writers, and Boyle's own insights into the genesis of the story itself, the threat of extinction, the dilemma of mortality, and the affect of parenthood on his material. The film concludes with Boyle's extended and forthright contemplation on the writing of "Chicxulub," and in a wider scope, the function of the fiction writer.

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Short