Linda Jo Martin

Writer, Artist, YouTuber

  • About
  • Journal
  • Fiction
  • Art
  • Home
  • The Art of Writing
  • Book Reviews
  • Lists & Challenges

This Boy’s Life, a Memoir by Tobias Wolff – Book Lady’s Review

September 10, 2017 By Linda Jo Martin Leave a Comment

A childhood is a unique thing. We all have one, and I like to think of them as our life challenge. We almost invariably experience traumatic events, then have the challenge of dealing with the fallout the rest of our lives, or until we gracefully recover. The childhood of Tobias Wolff was no different, yet it was unique in its own way. His memoir is best known for honesty to the extreme.

This Boy's Life, Memoir, by Tobias Wolff
Buy This Boy's Life

Title: This Boy’s Life
Author: Tobias Wolff
Publisher: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989.
Pages: 288
Location: Utah, Washington, California, Washington D.C.
POV: First person memoir
My Source: Audiobook

The Premise of This Boy’s Life

A young boy, abandoned by his father, survives childhood and teen years with his mother who has a habit of being involved in dysfunctional relationships.

Characters in This Boy’s Life

Tobias Wolff, aka. Jack – the author, as a child and teenager.

Rosemary – his mother.

Roy – his mother’s crazy boyfriend she wants to escape from.

Dwight – his mother’s crazy husband.

Skipper – Dwight’s son.

Norma – Dwight’s teenage daughter.

Pearl – Dwight’s younger daughter.

Norma’s boyfriends.

A few of Tobias’ friends.

Arthur Gayle – Tobias’ best friend during teenage years.

Champion – a most unfortunate dog.

Various others.

Paperback Version of This Boy’s Life, by Tobias Wolff


Buy This Boy's Life

This book cover image links to a paperback version of This Boy’s Life. I listened to the audiobook, purchased at Audible.com. I enjoyed the audiobook… the reader was perfect for the memoir.

The book starts with Tobias and his mother traveling to Utah where they think riches await. She’s escaping from Roy, a crazy boyfriend from Florida. Unfortunately he’ll catch up with her and continue his abusive ways in Utah. She didn’t want him in Florida and the change of scenery doesn’t help, so eventually she’ll move on, this time escaping him completely.

I could identify with this woman, unfortunately. I’ve managed to have only dysfunctional so-called romantic relationships myself, so I saw her as being a sympathetic character. Tobias’ father, her first husband, was alcoholic. She left her oldest son with him and had only Tobias with her on her cross-country journey which took them from Connecticut to Florida, to Utah and finally Washington state.

Themes of This Boy’s Life

Nobody’s perfect.

Kids misbehave, but so do parents.

We can live through almost anything, if we think we have to.

Some people are ridiculously manipulative, selfish and cruel.

This Boy’s Life – movie trailer


First paragraph of This Boy’s Life

Our car boiled over again just after my mother and I crossed the Continental Divide. While we were waiting for it to cool we heard, from somewhere above us, the bawling of an airhorn. The sound got louder and then a big truck came around the corner and shot past us into the next curve, its trailer shimmying wildly. We stared after it. “Oh, Toby,” my mother said, “he’s lost his brakes.”

Writing style

Tobias Wolff’s writing style is easily readable, and requires no mental strain. The story kept my interest though at times I was a bit put out with his antics. The memoir is very honest and leaves no question as to his childhood faults. He had plenty and wasn’t afraid to share them. You have to admire someone willing to tell the truth about things he was unwilling to be truthful about during teen years. This is a great story told in plain language.

My experience of reading This Boy’s Life

I tried several times to listen to this audiobook. I originally bought it in the spring of 2015, but didn’t listen to it completely until the summer of 2017. The reason I couldn’t get past chapter one, the first two times I tried to listen, was because he tells about seeing a truck lose its brakes, and later seeing it wrecked at the bottom of a cliff. Since I know a truck driver I care about, I really wasn’t loving that word picture. Perhaps it was the first trauma in a series of traumas for Tobias Wolff, sort of characterizing much of his childhood. Maybe he wanted to get a reader’s attention by telling them about something unforgettable and awful. It was really off-putting for me, but the trucking incident turned out to be unimportant to the overall plot.

Finally in September, 2017 I needed an audiobook to listen to. This time I got past chapter one and rather quickly listened to the rest of the memoir. It was not in the least bit boring – just sad, in so many ways. I loved that he lived just west of where I now live… in the mountains of Washington state. I looked for the town he called “Chinook” but these days that name belongs to a town south of Seattle. I’m sure that’s not the place he referred to in the memoir. I’ll write more about this below, in the section called “Location Notes.”

My opinion of this Tobias Wolff memoir

I wish I could write a memoir as open and honest as this one. Tobias Wolff was able to write about his own misdeeds, and I don’t expect that I’ll ever be able to do the same. He did a lot of things I would never have done, but in a way, he reminded me of things I’ve known other young boys to do… such as throwing things at people off the tops of buildings, or lying, stealing, shooting, and fighting. Definitely not my style of misbehavior.

I’ve wanted to write a memoir for a few years now so I take memoir reading very seriously, and really enjoyed this one. It was well written and edited. Though Tobias never called his step-father a narcissist, it was clear with all the verbal abuse and mistreatment he perpetrated, he had a severe behavior disorder. His mother was so naïve to get together with that man. Tobias endured treatment no child should have to go through.

About the Author

Tobias Wolff was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1945. After surviving his difficult childhood he went on to serve in the Vietnam War, and studied at Hertford College, Oxford, and Stanford University. At Stanford he received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing. From 1980 to 1997 he taught at Syracuse University. Since 1997 he’s been a professor at Stanford University, in the English department. He has published three novels, two memoirs, and numerous short stories.

Tobias Wollf, author
Photo by Mark Coggins used by permission – CC BY 2.0


Author links

Author’s Wikipedia Page

Spark Notes for This Boy’s Life – extensive information with plenty of spoilers.

The Man Who Told Lies – interesting article about Tobias Wolff and his family.

More books by Tobias Wolff


Location Notes

Places mentioned in This Boy’s Life include Salt Lake City, Utah, and Seattle, Washington. For a while he lived further north in Washington. Here’s a map.

I looked for the Washington locations on a map because I’m intrigued by the area, which isn’t far from where I live in Northern Idaho. Young Tobias lived in a remote mountain town which he called Chinook in the memoir, and which Wikipedia identifies as Newhalem. He mentioned Marblemount in the memoir. That’s where his step-father liked to stop for drinks on the way home, while leaving the children sitting alone in the car for long stretches of time. Afterwards he would drive home while intoxicated, on a dangerous mountain road. Was Dwight a step-father from hell, or merely a misguided, flawed, human, man? The reader is left to decide.


Image credits… the book covers are from Amazon. Mark Coggins photographed Tobias Wolff.

Similar Posts:

  • From the White Light
  • A Daily Mind-Map Journal
  • Daisy and the Freedom Field
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – Book Lady’s Review
  • A New Art Table! Also, Video Journal Flip-Through and My OCD



Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

A recent video on my Booktube channel, at YouTube

To receive blog update notifications via email, enter your email address:

About Me

Hi, I'm Linda, the Book Lady, and I'm excited about reading. A book is a gift you give yourself. It is so much fun to open that cover and discover what was hidden within. Books share the wisdom of the ages with us. Who wouldn't want that? So I read frequently and encourage reading. If you're a reader, let me know by becoming my friend on GoodReads.


My novel, River Girl, is about a girl living in the Klamath River Valley.

Here's a link to my prayer website:
Prayer Power.

My childhood memoirs: ljm memoirs.

Professional Reader
I use Amazon affiliate links on this site and appreciate it very much when you purchase from my links.

My Art

Water Girl - by Linda Jo
Acrylic Ink / Sketchbook
Sanctuary, by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic Ink / Sketchbook
Ready to Sail, by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic Ink / Sketchbook

Flowers Forever - art by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic Ink / Sketchbook
Mother-Daughter Dance, by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic Ink / Sketchbook
Mary and Jesus - art by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic / Junk Journal

Watercolor
Bird Art by Linda Jo Martin - http://lindajomartin.com
Acrylic
Wild and Precious - art by Linda Jo Martin
Watercolor / pen

Summer Afternoon - art by Linda Jo Martin
Pen / Watercolor
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ? Cicero - Art by Linda Jo Martin http://lindajomartin.com
Acrylic
Angel art by Linda Jo Martin
Sketchbook

Psalm 91:9-11 - Angel art by Linda Jo Martin http://lindajomartin.com
Sketchbook
Art: Idaho Hills, by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic / Junk Journal
March Mystery Madness 2020, art by Linda Jo Martin
Gouache journal

Plan A to Z - lettering by Linda Jo Martin
Lettering class project
A daring adventure - art by Linda Jo Martin
Fountain pen ink journal
Small Joys
Watercolor sketchbook

Watercolor sketchbook
Valley of decision.
Bible journaling
Mount Glittery by Linda Jo Martin - mountain climbing quote by John Muir
Acrylic painting

Watercolor sketchbook
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” ? Ralph Waldo Emerson ... watercolor painting by Linda Jo Martin
Watercolor sketchbook
Imagination Soars, by Linda Jo Martin - http://lindajomartin.com
Watercolor sketchbook

Plant Seeds
Watercolor sketchbook
The Prayer by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic painting
A basket of flowers, by Linda Jo Martin - http://lindajomartin.com/writing/art
Fountain pen ink journal

California Reading

California Reading

California Reading
5 members

This group is for anyone wanting to read California based fiction or nonfiction.

Our recommended shelf

The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience
The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience
by J.S. Holliday


Hillinger's California: Stories from All 58 Counties
Hillinger’s California: Stories from All 58 Counties
by Charles Hillinger





View this group on Goodreads »


RSS My Most Recent Book Reviews

  • Freedom's Light
  • The Last Enchantment (The Arthurian Saga Book 3)
  • Commodore Hornblower
  • Winning Your Spiritual Battles (Harvest Pocket Books)
  • Heart of Darkness
  • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
  • News of the World
  • 84, Charing Cross Road
  • Lady into Fox
  • Out of the Silence: After the Crash
  • Flying Colours

RSS Goodreads Status Updates

  • Linda Martin is on page 60 of 240 of When to Walk Away
  • Linda Martin is 23% done with Vanity Fair
  • Linda Martin is on page 38 of 240 of When to Walk Away

You can find me on Pinterest

Visit Linda Jo Martin, Book Lady's profile on Pinterest.

My art is at Zazzle.com

Dating Palms
Linda Jo Martin Art and Photography
Buy Scrivener for Windows (Regular Licence)
I love Scrivener, and use it for all my writing. It is a fantastic writing software that organizes a novel, ebook, or screenplay efficiently while I write and revise.

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

© 2023 - LJ Martin Web - Legal Notices
Linda Jo Martin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for
sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.Com.