The Barracks Thief

Tobias Wolff has written a brief yet powerful tale concerning a young man awaiting deployment to Vietnam. During his wait at Fort Bragg, a thief emerges, stealing from his fellow troops. The tale goes on to offer reactions to the thefts, then, in true original Wolff style, switches perspective half way through to give insight into the motivations of the thief himself. Finally, the book finishes with its original perspective, offering a tight and satisfying conclusion. Wolff is an expert at cutting to the heart of his characters, sometimes with very little narrative at all, but his stories always resonate with the reader far after the book has been finished. The Barracks Thief is no exception, and I believe it is a superb commentary on how most of us feel alone even when surrounded by throngs of people. ~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Two things induced me to read this book: 1) Its brevity, and 2) it's status of having won the prestigious Pen/Faulkner award. I dug the book out from one of my banana boxes and read it in one day. I was amply rewarded. Each page added to the intrigue, and I could hardly wait to see what would become of the characters. I wanted to learn the fate of Lewis, who Wolff characterized as one screwed-up dude. I actually felt sorry for him and wondered what experiences in his life could have produced such behavior. As for Philip, he is irrevocably changed by his experience at Fort Bragg and the Vietnam War. But, in my opinion, the ending came too abruptly. Wolff simply tells, in a few sentences, what becomes of the characters after the war. I think the novel would have been more powerful if Wolff would have shown a few scenes in the lives of each character. After I read the last sentence of the book, I wanted more, more than I got. Maybe an epilogue of sorts. But Wolff atoned for this deficiency by revisiting the symbol of the ammunition dump at the end. Life can be volatile and each experience (spark) in our lives can have explosive consequences.

I've read and re-read (multiple times) everything Tobias Wolff has written and I think this book is the best. It has the narrative pacing of a suspense novel, with strange, funny yet very human characterizations. The writing is pristine clear. The primary theme is the percieved benefits of conformity by the main character and his undercurrent of resistence to it.

I thought this book was great it needed no further attempts at anything by Mr. Wolff. I hope Mr. Wolff enjoy's his new teaching job at Stanford.

This piece exemplifies Tobias Wolff's authoritative and economical use of language and will be appreciated by anyone who has experienced the stark reality of garrison life.