''So Long, See You Tomorrow'' is a novel by American author William Maxwell. It was first published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' magazine in October 1979 in two parts. It was published as a book the following year by

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. It was awarded the

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, and its first paperback edition won a 1982

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

."National Book Awards – 1982"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-11. ''So Long'' won the 1982 award for paperback fiction. (From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Awards history, there were dual hardcover and paperback awards in most categories. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints, including this one.) It was a finalist for the 1981

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...

described it as "one of the great books of our age". In 2016, it was included in a ''

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...

'' list of the "75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years". The novel is based on fact and has been described as an "autobiographical metafiction".

Plot introduction

''So Long, See You Tomorrow'' is set in Maxwell's hometown of Lincoln, Illinois and tells of a murder that occurred in 1922. Fifty years later the guilt-ridden narrator recounts how the relationships between two neighboring families—the Smiths and the Wilsons—led to the murder of Lloyd Wilson and the suicide of Clarence Smith. Also the narrator recounts how he failed to support Cletus, a close school friend who was the son of the murderer, Clarence Smith.

Critical reception and influence

On November 5, 2019, the ''

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'' listed ''So Long, See You Tomorrow'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews stated that the book was "major accomplishment: a wellnigh faultless, lacerating, and heartbreaking short novel." The book review site The Pequod rated the book a 10.0 (out of 10), saying, "Maxwell's story is personal but yet universal, and it leads us to recall our own childhood moments of regret and loss. This is a wondrous novel from start to finish." ''So Long, See You Tomorrow'' influenced American writer

Justin Torres Justin Torres (born 1980) is an American novelist and an associate professor of English at University of California, Los Angeles. He won the First Novelist Award for his semi-autobiographical debut novel ''We the Animals'' (2011), which was also ...

and was directly referenced in his book '' Blackouts''.

Notes

References

1979 American novels Novels set in Illinois Fiction set in 1921 Novels set in the 1920s Alfred A. Knopf books Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in The New Yorker National Book Award for Fiction–winning works Lincoln, Illinois Metafictional novels American autobiographical novels Novels republished in the Library of America {{1970s-autobio-novel-stub