Back in the World: Stories
Page 18
OLD SCHOOL
The protagonist of Tobias Wolff’s shrewdly—and at times devastatingly—observed first novel is a boy at an elite prep school in 1960. He is an outsider who has learned to mimic the negligent manner of his more privileged classmates. Like many of them, he wants more than anything on earth to become a writer. But to do that he must first learn to tell the truth about himself. The climax of his quest becomes intimately entangled with the school literary contest, whose winner will be awarded an audience with the most legendary writer of his time. As the fever of the competition infects the boy and his classmates, fraying alliances, exposing weaknesses, Old School explores the ensuing deceptions and betrayals with an unblinking eye and a bottomless store of empathy. The result is further evidence that Wolff is an authentic American master.
Fiction/978-0-375-70149-8
OUR STORY BEGINS
New and Selected Stories
This collection of stories—twenty-one classics followed by ten potent new stories—displays Tobias Wolff’s exquisite gifts over a quarter century.
Fiction/Short Stories/978-1-4000-9597-1
ALSO AVAILABLE
The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, Edited by Tobias Wolff, 978-0-679-74513-6
VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES
Available at your local bookstore, or visit
www.randomhouse.com
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
About the Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
COMING ATTRACTIONS
THE MISSING PERSON
SAY YES
THE POOR ARE ALWAYS WITH US
SISTER
SOLDIER’S JOY
DESERT BREAKDOWN, 1968
OUR STORY BEGINS
LEVIATHAN
THE RICH BROTHER
Books by Tobias Wolff