This Boy's Life
First edition
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| Author | Tobias Wolff |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Joseph Dilmani |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Publisher | Atlantic Monthly Press |
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Publication date
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26 January 1989 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 p. (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 18019936 |
| 813/.54 B 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3573.O558 Z477 1989 |
This Boy's Life is a memoir by American author Tobias Wolff first published in 1989. It describes the author's adolescence as he wanders the continental United States with his traveling mother. The first leg of their journey takes them from Florida to Utah, where Mom, fleeing an abusive partner, hopes to get rich quick finding uranium. Eventually Wolff's mother becomes involved with Dwight Hansen, and they settle in Concrete, Washington, north of Seattle, a place with plenty of natural beauty and, in their case, more than its share of personal desolation.
In 1955, Toby and his mother, Rosemary, are on their way to Utah to make their fortune by mining uranium. While in Utah, Toby changes his name to Jack in honor of the author Jack London and also to remove himself from his father, who abandoned Jack and his mother shortly after Jack was born. Jack's father is now living in Connecticut with Jack's brother, Geoffrey, a student at Princeton, and is married to a millionaire.
Jack shares an intimate closeness with his mother who, because of her own abusive childhood, habitually involves herself with violent and volatile men. First, there is Roy, Rosemary's second husband, who follows Rosemary and Jack from Florida to Utah. Rosemary moves with Jack to Seattle to get away from Roy, where she meets Dwight, who seems harmless until Jack moves to Concrete to live with him, where Dwight reveals himself to be cruel, self-centered, petty and instantly dislikes Jack and his mother. Dwight criticizes and berates Jack for real and imagined flaws, and his rants are constantly at the forefront of Jack's mind. Dwight assigns Jack chores for no reason other than to exhibit his power and control over the household. Dwight also forces Jack to deliver newspapers and takes the money Jack earns for himself. The only time Dwight expresses a genuine interest in Jack is when he teaches Jack how to fight. Dwight is excited by Jack's display of aggression, especially because it will be directed against Arthur Gayle, a "sissy" who has a short-lived friendship with Jack.
Jack takes refuge in his unusually vivid imagination. Dwight's abuse and Jack's own general unhappiness in Concrete only fuel Jack's fantasies. Jack longs to escape from Concrete so that he can recreate himself, but he can only live the life he wants for himself in his own mind. Jack submits exaggerated applications to private schools, claiming that he is an A-student, star athlete, and good citizen. Jack is obsessed with the idea of himself as a virtuous and gifted young man, and is able to convince himself that his lies are the truth.
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