The author of the genre-defining memoir This Boy’s Life, the PEN/Faulkner Award–winning novella The Barracks Thief, and short stories acclaimed as modern classics, Tobias Wolff now gives us his first novel. Determined to fit in at his New England prep school, the narrator has learned to...

Gilbert saw Mary Ann first, but the second time he sees her she is dancing with his best friend, Rafe. The three of them begin hanging out all the time, driving around in the car Rafe got as a present for getting into Yale. But when Rafe goes out of town, Gilbert and Mary Ann keep the tradition...

Ann's friends envy her. None of their husbands even lift a finger to help with the household chores. Ann's husband is different, though. Then a simple hypothetical conversation while they wash and dry the dishes causes Ann to see her husband in a different light—and causes him to rethink the...

Tobias Wolff’s first two books, In the Garden of the North American Martyrs and Back in the World, proved how the short story can “provoke our amazed appreciation” (New York Times Book Review). In the years since, he’s written a third collection, The Night in Question, as well as several...

A classic tale of brotherly love and rivalry from short story master Tobias Wolff Pete has always been successful. Happily married with two daughters, he lives a comfortable life in Santa Cruz. Pete is a practical, hardworking man and he enjoys life's monetary pleasures. His younger brother...

The story of a book critic and his final thoughts from short-story master Tobias Wolff Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a...

Tobias Wolff's masterful short story about one woman's quiet revenge on the pomposity and arrogance of academia Meticulous, funny, eccentric—Mary has always been mindful of the complex role she plays as a professor of history. Her lectures are carefully written out beforehand; her departmental...

In this short story from Our Story Begins, three friends confront their relationships to one another as they work on plans to build their very own airplane. Clark's parents are rich, supplying the boys with all they need to follow their pursuits, making films and building catapults. Meanwhile...