The web and the rock / Thomas Wolfe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Voices of the South

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Authors, American--North Carolina.

Authors, American.

Man-woman relationships--Fiction.

Man-woman relationships.

North Carolina.

City and town life--Fiction.

City and town life.

Genre:

Fiction.

Autobiographical fiction.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

695 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 1999.

Summary:

Thomas Wolfe contended that The Web and the Rock, the precursor to You Cant Go Home Again, was "not only a turning away from the books I have written in the past, but a genuine spiritual and artistic change." To demonstrate his commitment to a new literary direction, he transformed his protagonist Eugene Gant into the more mature and aware George Webber.

The Web and the Rock continues Wolfe's own story through George, a young writer whose works resemble Wolfe's own. The first half of this posthumously published novel describes George's evolution from small-town southern boy to struggling New York novelist and attempts to answer the brooding protagonist's question, "What is it that a young man wants?" The second half is devoted to his tempestuous affair with a sophisticated married woman. Ultimately, George, repulsed by the frivolous lifestyle of his wealthy mistress and her circle, retreats to Europe. But, once again, his idealism is shattered as Hitler rises to power in Germany. Disillusioned, George dreams of returning to the South of his childhood but realizes that "you can't go home again."

ISBN:

0807123897

9780807123898

OCLC:

40489343