About this title: "Our Story Begins" gathers 21 classics and 10 new stories from the author who "The New York Times" hails as unfailingly authentic . . . his embrace of the variety of American experience is knowing, forgiving and all-encompassing.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781400044597ISBN:1400044596
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: 1st Printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage, New York
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400095971ISBN:1400095972
Description: Good. No Dust Jacket as Issued. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Book shows moderate wear/ spine tight, pages clean/ covers show moderate edge wear/ corners creased/ small torn spot on bottom of spine/ readers slant/ several pages and page tips creased. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400095971ISBN:1400095972
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Clean new book. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 400 p. Vintage Contemporaries (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Fine. 1400044596 Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black line on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400095971ISBN:1400095972
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 2009-04-07
ISBN-13:9781400095971ISBN:1400095972
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781400095971. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780747597278ISBN:0747597278
Description: Fine. Minor bumping to the dust jacket. Minor bumping to edges and extremities, otherwise brand new & unread. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780747597278ISBN:0747597278
Description: Fine in Minor bumping to the edges of th jacket. Minor bumping to edges and extremities, otherwise brand new & unread. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780747597278ISBN:0747597278
Description: Fine in Minor bumping to the edges of th jacket. Minor bumping to the edges of the dust jacket, otherwise brand new and unread. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Knopf, New York
Date Published: 2008
Description: First Edition: UNCORRECTED PROOF, suitable for the collector. Softcover, plain blue printed cover, with the projected jacket cover bound in. Near fine condition (tiny bump to spine foot). read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
Date Published: 2008-03-25
ISBN-13:9781400044597ISBN:1400044596
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781400044597. read more
Binding: Spoken Word Compact Disc
Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc
Date Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN-13:9781433203985ISBN:1433203987
Description: NEW. Spoken Word Compact Disc. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781433203985. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks, Inc
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781433203985ISBN:1433203987
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"This is an amazing collection of short stories that anyone would enjoy. Wolff is capable of writing from the perspective of a diverse range of people of various ages, genders, stations in life, etc. with a true and natural voice. He can remember precisely what it was like to be a kid interacting with inscrutable and fallible parents, or a young parent, or a young lover, both the wronged and the wrong-doer. Some themes -- the military lifestyle, single-parent households, the death of a loved one -- show up again and again, and these seem to have autobiographical origins, but you never feel as though he's shamelessly re-telling his own life for self-gratifying purposes (a la Stephen Fry's The Liar). Wolff seems to be an honest, self-reflective person who has the rare ability of seeing a story from all possible angles and giving a voice to characters very different from himself. Some of these stories caught my attention more than others, but they all have a kernel of undeniable truth to them; they all have a condensed message that is worth sharing and repeating."
"¡Odio las mudanzas! Llegas a tu nueva casa y no sabes dónde está nada. Te has de acostumbrar a la nueva distribución de habitaciones y de muebles. Las primeras noches apenas duermes porque no acabas de adaptarte a las nuevas vistas desde la cama. Y así con todo hasta que no pasan unos días o semanas. Pues para mí leer estos cuentos (y casi cualquier antología) me ha supuesto una mudanza constante. Comienzo el cuento, conozco a los personajes, unos empiezan a gustarme más que otros. Me adentro en la historia, dejo que me empape y... se acaba el cuento. Después del esfuerzo que he necesitado para meterme en la historia. Y es que a mí me cuesta mucho meterme en los libros, pocas veces me engancho en las primeras páginas, necesito varios capítulos, algo que no puedo encontrar en los cuentos. Me supone un esfuerzo extra, esfuerzo que no me importa invertir en una novela porque sé que sólo he de hacerlo una vez, porque después ya estoy dentro, el libro se ha convertido en mi nueva casa.
Leer 'Aquí empieza nuestra historia' me ha costado mucho, tanto que he necesitado de lecturas intermedias de otros libros para pasar el trago, algo que no hago casi nunca. He de admitir que algunos cuentos los he dejado a mitad, algo que también me cuesta hacer. Y no es que sea un libro de relatos mal escrito. Tobias Wolff es un gran escritor, y algunos cuentos podrían haber dado más de sí. De hecho, 'Vieja escuela', su última novela publicada en España, es una obra maestra. Pero estos cuentos no me han enganchado por todo lo anterior y por las temáticas de algunos de ellos, para mi gusto les falta algo, fuerza. No sé. Definitivamente, no me gustan las mudanzas, aunque podrían ser divertidas con según que "compañía"."
"Toby Wolff is one of those writers--Richard Ford, Alice Munroe, Ian McEwan, and Phillip Roth are others--who always set me back on my heels with their unflinching, clear-eyed view of human aspiration and failure. This collection of Wolff's stories can be read front to back, and in every piece I found something to think hard about. There are some classics from Wolff's earlier work. "Hunters in the Snow"and "Desert Breakdown, 1968," for instance, are sobering reminders how characters can talk themselves out of commitment and into swamps of self-absorption, while a newer story--"The White Bible" features a middle-aged English teacher confronting the Iranian father of one of her students in a parking lot, unable to convince him that his son is not the academic star the father needs him to be. Though the characters always seem somehow familiar, Wolff consistently makes them visible in new and unsettling ways.
I first read Wolff at the recommendation of my friend Paul from Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City. At the store, Paul handed me a copy of This Boy's Life and then insisted that I also take The Duke of Deception, written by Toby's brother Geoffrey. The brothers were separated when their parents were divorced, Toby living with his mother, Geoffrey with his father. Both wrote memoirs about the experience, and both make clear how complicated their parents were. When Wolff published Old School in 2003, I immediately added it to the list of recommended readings in my adolescent literature class. If you haven't had a chance to read his work, I think he'll reward any time you can give him."
"This was an amazing read. Tobias Wolff shines in this set of substantive short stories. I was blown away by all of the different kinds of characters he's conjured. All of the stories are about the human experience--and none wrap up all of the loose ends nicely. I could not put this book down--but like any good binge, the stories are probably best rationed out over a week or so rather than read from start to finish in a few days. Very satisfying and some of these stories will linger with me."
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