3 Tobias Wolff first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Barracks Thief (1984) to In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War (1994) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Tobias Wolff title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Tobias Wolff copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Barracks Thief — 1984 · Ecco PressEcco Press, New York, 1984. The true first is the clothbound hardcover in quarter black cloth over red boards with red spine lettering, 'first edition' stated on the copyright page, in an illustrated dust jacket priced on the flap. A slim volume of about 101 pages; Wolff's first book-length fiction. The US Ecco Press hardcover of 1984 is the true first, with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page. It won the 1985 PEN/Faulkner Award. No book-club issue. The earlier record's claim of a simultaneous Ecco paperback at first publication is not supported; the Ecco paperback appeared later (1990). The collectible first is the 1984 clothbound hardcover.
- This Boy's Life: A Memoir — 1989 · Atlantic Monthly PressQuarter brown cloth over green paper boards, gilt spine lettering; [15], 4-288 pp.; jacket designed by Jose Ortega and priced on the front flap; first printing stated on the copyright page. ISBN 0-87113-248-6. The US Atlantic Monthly Press 1989 edition is the true first. The UK first edition is Bloomsbury, 1989 (ISBN 0-7475-0274-9), a separate true first in the UK. Book-club editions lack the price on the jacket and the first-printing statement, and use cheaper boards.
- In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War — 1994 · Alfred A. KnopfOctavo, 221 pp.; "First Edition" stated on the copyright page with the Knopf borzoi device and no later printing indicated; published October 4, 1994. ISBN 0-679-40217-9. The dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. The US Knopf 1994 edition is the true first (Wolff's second memoir). The UK first edition is Bloomsbury, 1994 (ISBN 0-7475-1919-6), some copies of which carry the subtitle "Memories of a Lost War.". Watch for book-club printings lacking the stated "First Edition" line and bearing a blind-stamp to the rear board.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Tom Clancy, Toni Morrison, Truman Capote, T.S. Eliot, Upton Sinclair, Ursula K. Le Guin.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.