Much of his fiction is built from reworked recollections, and his memoirs--supposedly works of nonfiction--are embellished or edited versions of his personal history. "All my stories are in one way or another autobiographical," Wolff explained to Ross. "Sometimes they're autobiographical in the actual events which they describe, sometimes more in their depiction of a particular character. In fact, you could say that all of my characters are reflections of myself."
Wolff tries to treat his characters honestly once he has developed them. He revealed to Francine Prose in the New York Times Magazine that he felt an "affinity" for Raymond Carver's "standards of honesty and exactness," and his refusal "to destroy his characters with irony that proved his own virtue." Accordingly, with sparse prose, Wolff dwells on realistic, telling moments that represent or challenge the lives of his own characters. As often as not, they are left in the abyss of the daily existence in which they were introduced; they are not allowed happy endings or forced to suffer terrible, moral-proving consequences. Wolff is thus described as a realist and minimalist.
Learning to Lie
As Wolff demonstrates in his memoir, This Boy's Life, his childhood was difficult, but ultimately rewarding.
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