false 11466 17 Fiction writer Tobias Wolff electrified critics with his scarifying 1989 memoir, which many deemed as notable for its artful structure and finely wrought prose as for the events it describes. The story is pretty grim: Teenaged Wolff moves with his divorced mother from Florida to Utah to Washington State to escape her violent boyfriend. When she remarries, Wolff finds himself in a bitter battle of wills with his abusive stepfather, a contest in which the two prove to be more evenly matched than might have been supposed. Deception, disguise, and illusion are the weapons the young man learns to employ as he grows up--not bad training for a writer-to-be. Somber though this tale of family strife is, it is also darkly funny and so artistically satisfying that most readers come away exhilarated rather than depressed. 1559134 1988 This Boy's Life: A Memoir total:2875|5:800|4:1254|3:676|2:126|1:19| 2875 11315 3804 301 3 1 false false Mon Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 14 06:25:30 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 20 09:58:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Jun 22 19:00:31 -0700 2008 Sat May 24 20:27:11 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 19:00:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 19 08:51:08 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 09:13:48 -0800 2008 Not a reaction I typically have to memoirs by established authors.
He spok...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat May 01 00:00:00 -0700 1993 Sun Jan 27 17:43:42 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 27 17:55:37 -0800 2008
I picked this up after seing the movie version, specifically after the scene where Wolff's stepdad starts choking him because he didn't get ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Mar 10 08:59:36 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 08:59:55 -0700 2009
...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 15:18:49 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 15:29:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Aug 04 12:16:20 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 19:08:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 18:58:17 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 19:06:29 -0700 2009
Tobias Wolff's bittersweet growing up tale circles around truth and lies as an integral aspect of how humans de...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed May 09 15:32:52 -0700 2007 Fri May 11 11:04:17 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 18:51:43 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 19:51:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 10:41:08 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 10:49:51 -0700 2009 Old School failed to capitalize on his brilliance of the short form, so I must admit to some qualms about his memoir. I couldn't have been more wrong. Wolff analyses his upbringing with the c...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 13 10:28:27 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 10:33:37 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 15 06:23:14 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 06:26:47 -0700 2008 Lord, it was good.]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 18:51:46 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 19:05:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 06:17:01 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 06:17:01 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jul 16 06:16:33 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 06:17:42 -0700 2009
It's a good story but the writing is very basic. There are no real capturing details or scenes that will stick with you well after you finish the book. I stopped reading it after the fight scene with the 'sissy'. The scene was weakly done and just brushed over. In the...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 10 17:53:15 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 09 13:29:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 12:14:10 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 12:31:09 -0700 2009
this was recommended to me by sheryl for its metaphors- especially at the end of chapters. i guess i see it. best one, actually, was the opener --he and his mother stopped with an overheated car, passed suddenly by a truck without brakes, the truc...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 17:28:39 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 12:36:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 15 14:06:05 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 14:30:24 -0700 2009 more...]]>