Geoffrey Wolff
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Wolff is an American novelist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer. Among his honors and recognition are the Award in Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1994) and fellowships of the National Endowment for the Arts
, the American Academy in Berlin
(2007), and the Guggenheim Foundation
. His younger brother is the writer Tobias Wolff
.
Geoffrey Wolff was born in Hollywood, California, to Duke and Rosemary Wolff. His parents separated when he was twelve, his brother living with their mother and Geoffrey with their father. He has described the adventure of his upbringing in an acclaimed memoir of his father, The Duke of Deception (1979), which was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize. (Wolff's brother Tobias has treated with similar candor his own upbringing with their mother in a memoir, This Boy's Life
.)
Geoffrey Wolff was educated at the Choate School
, graduating in 1955; at Princeton
(which he anatomized in his 1990 novel Final Club), graduating summa cum laude in 1960; and at Cambridge University. He has taught at Robert Collge (now Boğaziçi University), in Istanbul, at Princeton, and at the University of California, Irvine
, where he was professor of English and comparative literature and, from 1995 to 2006, director of the influential Graduate Fiction Program. He has also been a book editor at the Washington Post and at Newsweek.
He is the author of six novels; biographies of Harry Crosby
, John O'Hara
, and Joshua Slocum
; a volume of essays, and other works of non-fiction in several genres. He has edited a selection of Edward Hoagland
's writings.
He lives in Bath, Maine, with his wife Priscilla.
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, the American Academy in Berlin
American Academy in Berlin
The American Academy in Berlin is a research and cultural institution in Berlin whose stated mission is to foster a greater understanding and dialogue between the people of the United States and the people of Germany.The American Academy was founded in September 1994 by a group of prominent...
(2007), and the Guggenheim Foundation
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
. His younger brother is the writer Tobias Wolff
Tobias Wolff
Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff is an American author. He is known for his memoirs, particularly This Boy's Life , and his short stories. He has also written two novels.-Biography:Wolff was born in 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama...
.
Geoffrey Wolff was born in Hollywood, California, to Duke and Rosemary Wolff. His parents separated when he was twelve, his brother living with their mother and Geoffrey with their father. He has described the adventure of his upbringing in an acclaimed memoir of his father, The Duke of Deception (1979), which was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize. (Wolff's brother Tobias has treated with similar candor his own upbringing with their mother in a memoir, This Boy's Life
This Boy's Life
This Boy's Life is a memoir by Tobias Wolff first published in 1989. It describes the author's adolescence as he wanders the continental United States with his itinerant mother. The first leg of their journey takes them from Florida to Utah, where Mom, fleeing an abusive partner, hopes to get rich...
.)
Geoffrey Wolff was educated at the Choate School
Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut...
, graduating in 1955; at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(which he anatomized in his 1990 novel Final Club), graduating summa cum laude in 1960; and at Cambridge University. He has taught at Robert Collge (now Boğaziçi University), in Istanbul, at Princeton, and at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, where he was professor of English and comparative literature and, from 1995 to 2006, director of the influential Graduate Fiction Program. He has also been a book editor at the Washington Post and at Newsweek.
He is the author of six novels; biographies of Harry Crosby
Harry Crosby
Harry Crosby was an American heir, a bon vivant, poet, publisher, and for some, epitomized the Lost Generation in American literature. He was the son of one of the richest banking families in New England, a member of the Boston Brahmin, and the nephew of Jane Norton Grew, the wife of financier J....
, John O'Hara
John O'Hara
John Henry O'Hara was an American writer. He initially became known for his short stories and later became a best-selling novelist whose works include Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8. He was particularly known for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue...
, and Joshua Slocum
Joshua Slocum
Joshua Slocum was the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Canadian born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he told the story of this in Sailing Alone Around the World...
; a volume of essays, and other works of non-fiction in several genres. He has edited a selection of Edward Hoagland
Edward Hoagland
Edward Hoagland is an author best known for his nature and travel writing.-Life:...
's writings.
He lives in Bath, Maine, with his wife Priscilla.
Principal works
- Bad Debts (1969), a novel.
- The Sightseer (1974), a novel.
- Black Sun: The Brief Transit and Violent Eclipse of Harry Crosby (1976), a biography
- Inklings (1977), a novel
- The Duke of Deception: Memories of My Father (1979), a memoir
- The Edward Hoagland Reader (1979), editor
- Providence (1985), a novel
- Final Club (1990), a novel
- A Day at the Beach: Recollections (1992), essays
- The Age of Consent (1995), a novel
- The Art of Burning Bridges: A Life of John O'Hara (2003), a biography
- The Edge of Maine (2005), a travel portrait
- The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum (2010), a biography