Tobias Wolff
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While on a crowded bus near the Vatican, a man named Mallon-visiting Italy on business-feels someone reaching into his pockets, searching for his wallet. He elbows the pickpocket, seriously injuring the man. Driven by his guilty conscience, Mallon finds himself peering in on the life of an unfamiliar culture and learning more about the world than he ever could have imagined.
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Miller is unlucky. That's why he's in a foxhole with the rest of Bravo Company. That's why his dad is gone and his mother remarried. That's why his teeth are falling out. Then, when the first sergeant tells Miller his mother has passed away, Miller thinks he's finally gotten lucky. Surely it's another Miller's mother, and now he can get away from the battalion for a couple days thanks to the Army's error. But Miller knows the future rarely has happiness...
3) Sanity
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April's father, a psychology professor, has had a breakdown and has landed in the Alta Vista State Hospital. Her stepmother, Claire, is just waiting for him to get out so she can leave on a trip to Italy-a trip April is worried Claire won't come back from. She needs Claire, at least until she finishes high school. She needs her not just as a companion but as a worldly woman who can tell April about men and their desires … men far different from...
4) Say Yes
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Ann's friends envy her. None of their husbands even lift a finger to help with the household chores. Ann's husband is different, though. Then a simple hypothetical conversation while they wash and dry the dishes causes Ann to see her husband in a different light-and causes him to rethink the way two people can know one another.
5) Down to Bone
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A son sits at his mother's deathbed, hesitant to leave her side. He leafs through one of her old photo albums, remembering her abusive, estranged father. When a visit to a funeral home turns into a conversation with a beautiful, mysterious woman, he develops a deeper-and perhaps darker-understanding of his relationship with his mother.
6) Next Door
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An introspective story of neighbors, movies, and marriage from short-story master Tobias Wolff
Lying stiffly in their separate beds, a husband and his wife are woken in the middle of the night to the sound of their fighting neighbors. There are three of them-a man, a woman, and a young child. With their blasting stereos, violent interludes, and steamy make-up sessions, the wife has had enough. The husband, however, is preoccupied with other thoughts-sex,...
7) Her Dog
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John didn't want a dog. He wasn't ready, he said. Grace, on the other hand, did want a dog, and when she brought Victor home from the pound, John made sure Grace knew it was her dog, her responsibility. But when Grace dies, John is left with just Victor and his grief, and he learns a new level of devotion.
8) Firelight
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A mother and her son dream of a life beyond their means in this classic short-story by Tobias Wolff.
"Firelight" tells the story of a mother and her son who are spending the afternoon viewing apartments on a chilly day in Seattle, Washington. The two have no intention of renting one-they can only afford to live in a meager boarding house. Nevertheless, they spend every Saturday wandering through apartments and department stores, dreaming of a different...
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Gilbert saw Mary Ann first, but the second time he sees her she is dancing with his best friend, Rafe. The three of them begin hanging out all the time, driving around in the car Rafe got as a present for getting into Yale. But when Rafe goes out of town, Gilbert and Mary Ann keep the tradition going, seeing movies and going on drives … in Rafe's car no less. Gilbert thinks he and Mary Ann are perfect together, even the way they fit next to one...
10) A Mature Student
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Theresa left the Marines after twenty-two years to start a new life. Her husband had moved on to a second wife, and her son had recently enlisted. Now Theresa is going to school, getting a degree in hotel management. But it is her art history class she finds most interesting, and a chance encounter with her professor leaves her with new fears for her life, for the future-and for her son.
11) That Room
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In this short-story by the masterful Tobias Wolff, a teenage boy learns the joys-and struggles-of adult life.
Eager for independence and adult-like freedom, a teenage boy takes a summer job baling hay on a rural farm. Savoring the farm wife's attention and the extra change in his pocket, the boy feels like a grown man. The fellow hands give him a sense of camaraderie-Clemson, a fastidious boy who attends the same high school; Eduardo, a talkative...
12) Nightingale
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Dr. Booth drives his son, Owen, to Fort Steele Academy, where he hopes his son will thrive in a structured, disciplined environment that mirrors Booth's own upbringing. But after he drops Owen off at his new school, he's filled with a deep sense of doubt-about his decision to send his son away, about his childhood-and finds himself lost in more ways than one.
13) Flyboys
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In this short-story from Our Story Begins, three friends confront their relationships to one another as they work on plans to build their very own airplane.
Clark's parents are rich, supplying the boys with all they need to follow their pursuits, making films and building catapults. Meanwhile, Freddy's family is dealing with the loss of his older brother, and Freddy's friends are having a hard time knowing how to act around him anymore. The boys...
14) Awaiting Orders
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Sergeant Morse is a risk-taker, playing chicken with the potential exposure of his sexuality. Julianne is looking for her brother, Specialist Hart, not knowing he's shipped out to Iraq. In a surprising moment of tenderness, Sergeant Morse offers to help her, but whether due to fear of exposure or stubbornness, they might both be beyond rescue.
15) The Deposition
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Burke, a San Francisco lawyer, is defending a woman who has been disabled by a botched surgery. His client has a personal connection to Burke, and the trial happens to be taking place in his Ohio hometown, a place ravaged by fallen industries and greedy corporations. While taking a deposition from a particularly difficult witness, Burke calls for a break and takes a walk around the neighborhood where he grew up. A chance encounter with a beautiful...
16) The Liar
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One of Tobias Wolff's classic tales, "The Liar" is the story of a deceitful teenage boy and his religious, resolute mother.
James is a liar. He enjoys inventing fantastic stories about his family, particularly his mother. Margaret is orderly, stubborn, and judgmental-a woman who throws rocks at hungry bears and never misses four o'clock Mass. She loves her children but has always struggled with James. Like his deceased father, he's fascinated by...
17) Leviathan
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Two drugged-out couples contemplate life and morality in "Leviathan," a classic short-story by the masterful Tobias Wolff.
For Helen's thirtieth birthday party, her husband decides to throw her a small party. Armed with booze and three grams of cocaine, the four partyers-Helen, her husband, and another couple-spend the night and the next morning in a drug-induced stupor. As their talk turns to past misdeeds and shameful acts, the couples begin to...
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The story of a book critic and his final thoughts from short-story master Tobias Wolff
Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a long line at the bank, waiting to reach a teller. Even after two men-wearing masks and carrying guns-take control of the building, Anders is unfazed. It's...
19) Smorgasbord
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García, the wealthy, swaggering son of a foreign dictator, invites two lower-class boys from his boarding school to have dinner in New York along with his Spanish-speaking stepmother, Linda. When the group decides to go to a kitschy, unpretentious Swedish smorgasbord rather than a fine restaurant, García refuses to leave the limousine, still angry with Linda after an argument over money. Linda proves to be more than the young men had anticipated,...
20) The Chain
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When Gold's daughter is viciously attacked by a neighbor's dog and barely escapes with her life, Gold's world is torn open. Haunted by the incident and unable to convince local authorities to take action, he agrees to a friend's offer of retaliation. When he feels compelled to return the favor, one bad turn leads to another-and this time, Gold finds the repercussions much worse than he ever could have anticipated.