Look Homeward, Angel
The spectacular, history-making first novel about a young man’s coming of age by literary legend Thomas Wolfe, first published in 1929 and long considered a classic of twentieth century literature.
A legendary author on par with William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor, Thomas Wolfe published Look Homeward, Angel, his first novel, about a young man’s burning desire to leave his small town and tumultuous family in search of a better life, in 1929. It gave the world proof of his genius and launched a powerful legacy.
The novel follows the trajectory of Eugene Gant, a brilliant and restless young man whose wanderlust and passion shape his adolescent years in rural North Carolina. Wolfe said that Look Homeward, Angel is “a book made out of my life,” and his largely autobiographical story about the quest for a greater intellectual life has resonated with and influenced generations of readers, including some of today’s most important novelists. Rich with lyrical prose and vivid characterizations, this twentieth-century American classic will capture the hearts and imaginations of every reader.
A legendary author on par with William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor, Thomas Wolfe published Look Homeward, Angel, his first novel, about a young man’s burning desire to leave his small town and tumultuous family in search of a better life, in 1929. It gave the world proof of his genius and launched a powerful legacy.
The novel follows the trajectory of Eugene Gant, a brilliant and restless young man whose wanderlust and passion shape his adolescent years in rural North Carolina. Wolfe said that Look Homeward, Angel is “a book made out of my life,” and his largely autobiographical story about the quest for a greater intellectual life has resonated with and influenced generations of readers, including some of today’s most important novelists. Rich with lyrical prose and vivid characterizations, this twentieth-century American classic will capture the hearts and imaginations of every reader.
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Community Reviews
We were heading to Asheville for a week in March, so I thought, what better time to read one of the classics that I'd never gotten around to? I even visited the Thomas Wolfe House in Asheville for a tour after just beginning the book. Armed with that experience, I thought I'd get a better feel for the man and his story.
This is an autobiography written as fiction, but characters are thinly disguised so everybody knew exactly who he was writing about, which got him into some hot water at the time, apparently. It's mostly about how he couldn't stand Asheville, couldn't stand his family, and couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. It's hard to tell whether his family was really as horrible as he portrays (especially his mother, whose main facial expression is pursing her lips, which she does no less than 50 times in the book -- yes, I counted) or if he was just incapable of seeing them as nothing more than one-dimensional characters. But there seemed to be very little love in that household. When there is one major tragedy that occurs, you hope that it will be a crisis point to bring the family together, finally, but still they bicker and lash out at each other even through that horrible time.
The best parts are when he's away from the family at school or traveling. But his too wordy, stream of consciousness writing is not for me.
This is an autobiography written as fiction, but characters are thinly disguised so everybody knew exactly who he was writing about, which got him into some hot water at the time, apparently. It's mostly about how he couldn't stand Asheville, couldn't stand his family, and couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. It's hard to tell whether his family was really as horrible as he portrays (especially his mother, whose main facial expression is pursing her lips, which she does no less than 50 times in the book -- yes, I counted) or if he was just incapable of seeing them as nothing more than one-dimensional characters. But there seemed to be very little love in that household. When there is one major tragedy that occurs, you hope that it will be a crisis point to bring the family together, finally, but still they bicker and lash out at each other even through that horrible time.
The best parts are when he's away from the family at school or traveling. But his too wordy, stream of consciousness writing is not for me.
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