This Boy's Life (30th Anniversary Edition)

by Tobias Wolff

Overview

“A classic of the genre.”—New York Times

The 30th anniversary edition of Tobias Wolff's "extraordinary memoir" (SF Chronicle), now with a new introduction by the author.

Thirty years ago Tobias Wolff wrote a memoir that changed the form. The “unforgettable” (Time) This Boy’s Life is the story of the young, tough-on-the-outside but vulnerable Toby Wolff. Separated by divorce from his father and brother, Toby and his mother travel from Florida to Utah to a small village in Washington state, with many stops along the way. As each place doesn’t quite work out, they pick up to find somewhere new. In the story of their journey, Wolff masterfully recreates the frustrations, cruelties, and joys of adolescence and presents a deeply poignant exploration of memory, dreams, and how we create a self.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802149077
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	12/17/2019
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	135,316
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Tobias Wolff lives in Northern California and teaches at Stanford University. He has received the Rea Award for excellence in the short story, the National Medal of Arts, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

Hometown:

Northern California

Date of Birth:

June 19, 1945

Place of Birth:

Birmingham, Alabama

Education:

B.A., Oxford University, 1972; M.A., Stanford University, 1975

Read an Excerpt

“Though some of what I describe here was difficult to live through, and difficult to relive, I have never been happier in writing a book—recalling that crazy trip across the country, hearing my beautiful mother’s laughter at some ridiculous situation we found ourselves in, remembering the open-heartedness of people we met along the way, on that road and roads still ahead . . . For all this I give thanks—for friendship, for family, for narrow escapes, for good work, for the book you hold in your hands.” —Tobias Wolff, from the new introduction