Short Story Collections, Part 5: Tobias Wolff

Selected from his collection Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories, the short stories in this course probe the ordinary and extraordinary circumstances of human experience—from first love to military service. Drawing on his own upbringing and time as a paratrooper in Vietnam, Tobias Wolff imbues everyday dramas with profound psychological depth. Through irony, empathy, and emotional restraint, Wolff avoids melodrama to reveal how we reconcile reality with desire. Together, we examine how his introspective first-person narratives, sudden epiphanies, and resonant endings linger with the reader long after the final page. Suggested book: Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories, by Tobias Wolff.