The Lost Boy

Name: The Lost Boy
Author: Thomas Wolfe
ISBN: 9780807844861

A Novella

by Thomas Wolfe

Edited by James W. Clark

Introduction by James W. Clark

Illustrated by Ed Lindlof

Published by The University of North Carolina Press

Chapel Hill Books

Publication date: August 26, 1994

ISBN 9780807844861 | 95 Pages, 6.00 × 9.00 in, 10 illus.

95 Pages, 6.00 × 9.00 in, 10 illus.

Paperback $23.00

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Description
Authors
Praise

Thomas Wolfe’s The Lost Boy is a captivating and poignant retelling of an episode from Wolfe’s childhood. The story of Wolfe’s brother Grover and his trip to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair is told from four perspectives, each articulating the sentiments of a different family member. The Lost Boy also captures beautifully the experiences of growing up at the turn of the century and the exhilaration and loss of childhood. For this illustrated edition, James Clark unearthed Wolfe’s original manuscript, which was first published in the 1930s in a heavily abridged form.

Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was a major American novelist of the early 20th century. James Clark teaches English at North Carolina State University.

“The Lost Boy is a moving valediction and a sure-footed example of Wolfe’s stylistic power.” — Publishers Weekly

“Typically and often beautifully Wolfean, the tale is a moving lament not only for lost youth, lost innocence, and lost hope, but for lost time itself.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A keen reminder of [Wolfe’s] literary mastery and human understanding.” — Parade Magazine

“An essential discovery.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Wolfe’s management of point of view, his vivid recreation of the Asheville town square at the turn of the century, and his themes of love, death, and remembrance combine to make Grover Gant a memorable creation, a loving portrait, a boy whose bright candle burned out too soon. It is to such work as this that readers can turn if they want to share the best of Wolfe’s talents as a fiction writer.” — Studies in Short Fiction