Tobias Wolff provided a definition of the guiding principles behind his own stories in explaining his choices of the works of others for Matters of Life and Death (1983), the anthology of contemporary short fiction he edited: "They [these writers]...

"I was a liar myself when I was a kid. I'm still a liar, really, and I don't mean just in terms of telling stories and being a story writer. I wouldn't ever want to be held to a literal version of the facts when I tell people a story," Tobias Wolff...

Cynthia Ozick stood before a full house of literary fans, her white hair shining as she assessed an art form that could be likened to an old, but vital patriarch _ rich, historic and, the author feared, increasingly neglected.The short story."In serious mainstream magazines nowadays,...

A woman who used the alter ego of a nonexistent male prostitute to pen an autobiographical novel defrauded a production company that wanted to make a film about her life, a jury decided Friday.The Manhattan federal jury awarded the production company $116,500 after deliberating for...

Robert Olmstead always considered his war the Revolutionary War, when he was growing up on a farm in New England.It was not until he was teaching at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania did the novelist first visit Gettysburg, where he was transfixed by another great American...

The cultural critic Lee Siegel is known as something of a terror for his slashing, razor-sharp essays and reviews. His savage eloquence has ticked off a lot of folk, and his not entirely deserved reputation as a hatchet man—news flash: There’s plenty of stuff Lee...

In the following essay, Hannah reviews each of the ten stories in Back in the World and compares the collection to In the Garden of the North American Martyrs. Hannah concludes that, while the two share some subject matter and style, Back in the World is notably less optimistic about the possibility of improving one's situation in life.

In the following essay, Hannah examines the ten stories in Back in the World and compares the collection to In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, concluding that, while the two share some subject matter and style, Back in the World is notably less optimistic about the possibility of improving one's situation.

In the following essay, Hannah studies the twelve stories included in In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, focusing on how each reflects themes about changing one's life for the better.

An essay about characterization, comparing approaches by John Cheever in his short story "Goodbye, My Brother" and Tobias Wolff in his short story "Powder." Both authors create their respective fictional personages through first-person narration, which lead one to conclude in each story that the reasoning for the antagonist's actions is misunderstood by the antagonist's family.