Tobias Wolff
Tobias Wolff: A Life of Writing and Wisdom
Full Name and Common Aliases
Tobias Wolff is an American author and educator, best known for his memoirs and short stories that explore the human condition.
Birth and Death Dates
Born on June 19, 1945, in Los Angeles, California. He is still alive as of this writing.
Nationality and Profession(s)
American, Author, Educator
Tobias Wolff is a celebrated author and educator, known for his contributions to the world of literature. His work spans multiple genres, including memoirs, short stories, and essays.
Early Life and Background
Growing up in a family of modest means, Wolff's early life was marked by instability and hardship. His father abandoned him at an young age, leaving Wolff to be raised by his mother in various foster homes throughout California. Despite these challenges, Wolff found solace in reading and writing, which eventually became his escape from the difficulties of his childhood.
Wolff's experiences during World War II also had a profound impact on him. As a child, he was evacuated with other children to rural Oregon, away from the dangers of Los Angeles. This experience would later influence his writing, particularly in his memoir "This Boy's Life," which chronicles his tumultuous childhood.
Major Accomplishments
Wolff has had a distinguished career as an author and educator. Some of his notable accomplishments include:
Being awarded the National Book Award for Fiction in 1989 for "Breach"
Receiving the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1990
Serving as the director of the Writing Program at Stanford UniversityNotable Works or Actions
Some of Wolff's notable works include:
"This Boy's Life": A memoir that chronicles his childhood, including his experiences with foster families and his relationship with his stepfather.
"Old School": A novel set in a prestigious prep school, exploring the complexities of adolescent relationships and identity.
"The Barracks Thief": A collection of short stories that examine the human condition through characters' struggles and triumphs.
Wolff's work is known for its lyrical prose, nuanced characterization, and thoughtful exploration of the human experience. His writing often grapples with themes such as identity, family dynamics, and the complexities of growing up.
Impact and Legacy
Tobias Wolff has made a lasting impact on the literary world through his insightful and engaging writing. His work has been widely praised for its nuance and depth, appealing to readers from diverse backgrounds and genres.
Wolff's commitment to education is also noteworthy. As a professor of English at Stanford University, he inspired generations of writers and thinkers with his passion for literature and teaching.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Tobias Wolff is widely quoted and remembered for his thoughtful exploration of the human experience. His writing offers readers valuable insights into the complexities of identity, family dynamics, and growing up.
Quotes by Tobias Wolff
Tobias Wolff's insights on:
That room – once you enter it, you never really leave. You can forget you’re there, you can go on as if you hold the reins, that the course of your life, yeah even its length, will reflect the force of your character and the wisdom of your judgments. And then you hit an icy path on a turn one sunny March day and the wheel in your hands becomes a joke and you no more than a spectator to your own dreamy slide toward the verge, and then you remember where you are.
She’d laugh at odd times as we talked and this flustered me pleasantly and made me laugh too, as if we both understood something we couldn’t say.
Getting from La Jolla to Alta Vista State Hospital isn’t easy, unless you have a car or a breakdown. April’s Father had a breakdown and they got him there in no time.
I am thinking of Achilles’ grief, he said. That famous, terrible, grief. Let me tell you boys something. Such grief can only be told in form. Form is everything. Without it you’ve got nothing but a stubbed-toe cry – sincere, maybe, for what that’s worth, but with no depth or carry. No echo. You may have a grievance but you do not have grief, and grievances are for petitions, not poetry.
It was like fishing a swamp, where you feel the tug of something that at first seems promising and then resistant and finally hopeless as you realize that you’ve snagged the bottom, that you have the whole planet on the other end of your line.
I have never been able to understand the complaint that a story is “depressing” because of its subject matter. What depresses me are stories that don’t seem to know these things go on, or hide them in resolute chipperness; “witty stories,” in which every problem is the occasion for a joke; “upbeat” stories that flog you with transcendence. Please. We’re grown ups now.
But for now Anders can still make time. Time for the shadows to lengthen on the grass, time for the tethered dog to bark at the flying ball, time for the boy in right field to smack his sweat-blackened mitt and softly chant, They is, they is, they is.
Happiness is endless hapiness, innocent of its own sure passing. Pain is endless pain.
Like so many writers I started writing stories because I didn’t have much time for anything else.