Geoffrey Wolff (born 1937) is an American novelist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer. Among his honors and recognition are the Award in Literature of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

(1994) and fellowships of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, the

American Academy in Berlin The American Academy in Berlin is a private, independent, nonpartisan research and cultural institution in Berlin dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the long-term intellectual, cultural, and political ties between the United States and Germany ...

(2007), and the Guggenheim Foundation. His younger brother

Tobias Wolff Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible, T ...

is also an award-winning writer.

Biography

Geoffrey Wolff was born in Hollywood, California, as the first son to "Duke" Arthur Samuels and Rosemary () Wolff. He is the older brother of the novelist and memoirist

. Their parents separated when Geoffrey was twelve, his brother living with their mother, and Geoffrey with their father; their parents eventually divorced. He has described the adventure of his upbringing with his father on the East Coast in an acclaimed memoir, ''The Duke of Deception'' (1979), which was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize. (Tobias has treated with similar candor his own years with their mother in a memoir, ''

This Boy's Life ''This Boy's Life'' is a 1993 American biographical coming-of-age drama film based on the memoir of the same name by author Tobias Wolff. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Tobias "Toby" Wolff, Robert De Niro ...

'', published in 1989.) Geoffrey Wolff was educated at the Choate School, graduating in 1955; at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, graduating '' summa cum laude'' in 1960; and at

Churchill College Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. He has taught at Robert College (now

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and tw ...

) in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Turkey; at Princeton, and at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

. There he was professor of English and comparative literature and, from 1995 to 2006, director of the influential Graduate Fiction Program. He has also been a book editor at the ''Washington Post'' and at ''Newsweek''. Wolff is the author of six novels; biographies of

Harry Crosby Harry Crosby (June 4, 1898 – December 10, 1929) was an American heir, World War I veteran, ''bon vivant'', poet, and publisher who for some epitomized the Lost Generation in American literature. He was the son of one of the richest banking fam ...

, John O'Hara, and Joshua Slocum; a volume of essays, and other works of non-fiction in several genres. He has edited a selection of Edward Hoagland's writings. He lives in

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

, with his wife Priscilla.Lacy Crawford, "Geoffrey Wolff: An Interview," ''Narrative Magazine'', Winter 2005; http://www.randomhouse.com/author/33601/geoffrey-wolff

Partial bibliography

Novels

*''Bad Debts'' (1969) *''The Sightseer'' (1974) *''Inklings'' (1977) *''Providence'' (1985) *''The Final Club'' (1990), set at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

() *''The Age of Consent'' (1995)

Non-fiction

*''The Edge of Maine'' (2005), a travel portrait *''The Duke of Deception: Memories of My Father'' (1979), a memoir *''A Day at the Beach: Recollections'' (1992), essays

Biographies

*''Black Sun: The Brief Transit and Violent Eclipse of Harry Crosby'' (1976) *''The Art of Burning Bridges: A Life of John O'Hara'' (2003) *''The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum'' (2010)

As editor

* ''The Edward Hoagland Reader'' (1979)

References

External links

UCI Faculty Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Geoffrey 1937 births Living people Writers from Maine Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge American people of Jewish descent