Tobias Wolff is a great writer. Actually, he’s an amazing writer. And his specialty is writing short stories. So it is no surprise that his new book, a collection of stories spanning his career, is equally fantastic.
Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories features 21 previously published short stories and seven brand-new ones from Wolff. Many of the stories have been anthologized in other books and most have found life in magazines such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic, among others. It’s clear that Wolff knows what he’s doing, and continues to do it well.
The stories are heavily character driven, the plots usually being the result of a character’s choices rather than something that just happens to them. Wolff’s writing has a consistent narrative tone, moving from first to third person accounts, but the language he uses and the mood he creates change. Each story is crafted to exactly fit the characters, so as his characters pulse with life, so too does Wolff’s writing.
While a majority of the protagonists are male, Wolff hits the ground running with “In the Garden of North American Martyrs,” a story about Mary, a professor, who late in her career grapples with how she has always tried to say what she thinks is the right thing. Mary gets a teaching job in Oregon where, “it rained every day” and “when it wasn’t raining it was getting ready to rain, or clearing.”
Wolff writes about men, women, boys, girls and in one of his new stories, a gay man. How progressive! But truly–he doesn’t alienate anyone through is characters, he just writes about people. Wolff writes about broken relationships and friendships, about love and fear and moral dilemmas. He recognizes subtle truths about the human condition, such as the thoughts that a person can’t hold back and he admits that we are all probably capable of damaging acts-such as leaving a lover or shooting a man.
“Soldier’s Joy,” “Desert Breakdown, 1968” and “The Chain” stand out as harrowing pieces about a person’s potential for bad choices or evil deeds. “Two Boys and a Girl” and “Deep Kiss” are bittersweet–but not trite–stories about loves that couldn’t be. Until you get used to the way Wolff thinks–which may not even be possible–the stories don’t end in expected ways, and they certainly aren’t contrived. They go to deep and thoughtful places without banging the reader over the head with philosophy. At once Wolff writes enjoyable and thought provoking pieces.
Some of his best writing in Our Story Begins is about soldiers or former soldiers, from Korea, Vietnam and now, Iraq. Wolff doesn’t write about combat, but about duty, power and mortality. The stories contain a handful of characters who happen to be military, and some who are defined by it. “The Other Miller” is interestingly about a soldier who can think of nothing but his mother’s imminent death.
Not only does Our Story Begins include Wolff’s best work, it includes some of the best writing on the market today. He’s been a success for decades for his short stories and his 1989 memoir This Boy’s Life, but now he’s really on top of his game.
Our Story Begins is prefaced with a note from the author, in which Wolff addresses the question of whether he should allow himself to revise his older work or leave it in it’s original form, as he says, “the first of these stories was written some three decades ago.” He concludes that he has never regarded his stories as “sacred texts” and “to the extent that they are still alive to me I take a continuing interest in giving that life its best expression.”
Yes! Writing is a living art form. Like the stories told in an oral tradition, or music, why would one skip the opportunity to improve their work? This beautiful sentiment is felt throughout the collection.
Wolff’s writing is immaculate and his stories deeply felt. The only caveat to have about his new book may be the title. The stories are, on the surface, about other people. But really? His writing is about us all-a deep consideration on the condition of being human. So by including us in the book’s title, Wolff draws us closer to the beauty of his stories. But we also get closer to the heartbreak.
Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories
By Tobias Wolff****1/2 (out of five)$26.95 (hardcover)