Wolff, Tobias - Richard Eder (review date 17 November 1985)
Richard Eder (review date 17 November 1985)
SOURCE: Eder, Richard. Review of Back in the World, by Tobias Wolff. Los Angeles Times Book Review (17 November 1985): 3.
[In the following review of Back in the World Eder says that Wolff “writes with a lavish display of skill.”]
The land of disquiet explored by a segment of American fiction is prosperous, druggy and largely devoted to games. A lot of work gets done, or it couldn't be paid for. But you don't see the work; it isn't really part of life except as an off-stage drain on the spirits.
The games that the inhabitants consider their real life are played in a state of crowded anxiousness. They offer an illusion of companionship, but they are essentially solitary. Everyone brings his or her own board; the other players can be painlessly evicted and sent away.
Tobias Wolff, like other masters of the territory such as Ann Beattie and Frederick Barthelme,...
[The entire page is 986 words long]
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