A Day at the Beach: Recollections - Softcover

Wolff, Geoffrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679744495 ISBN 13: 9780679744498

Publisher: Vintage Books, 1993

Synopsis

The author recounts the events leading up to his being diagnosed with heart disease, and describes how the crisis led to his new awareness of himself as a husband, father, friend, and writer

About this title

Review:

"Wolff is always a dream to read. He plays his anecdotes like a romantic pianist...cuts his cameos like a Venetian, and dashes into neologisms like an Olympic skater.... A Day at the Beach is a delice from one of America's best memoirists." -- Village Voice
"Wolff is one of the all-time great yarn spinners, and the texture of his prose is a marvel." -- Frank Conroy

"In Geoffrey Wolff, America is blessed." -- Los Angeles Times

"A memoir of uncommon grace and self-deprecating charm. . . . Buoyant and forceful." --"Newsday"
"Wolff is always a dream to read. . . . "A Day at the Beach" is a "delice" from one of America's best memoirists." --"The Village Voice"
"Sparkling. . . . Style is the hero of these essays. . . . [Wolff] has lived a rich, full life that sounds almost Victorian in its mix of adventure and stability." --"The New York Times"
"More fun, more instructive, more heartwarming than any day at the beach I can recall. A splendid collection." --George Plimpton
"Elegant. . . . Provide[s] an upbeat counterpoint to the troubled father-son relationship chronicled in "The Duke of Deception." . . . In Geoffrey Wolff, America is blessed." --"Los Angeles Times"
"Honest and touching. . . . [Wolff explores] the romance of building the clean well-lighted sentence." --"Chicago Tribune "
"Exhilarating. . . . Conjures up a diversity of scenes, set in locations ranging from Istanbul to Greenwich Village to a Caribbean beach." --"Publishers Weekly"
"Wolff is one of the all-time great yarn spinners, and the texture of his prose is a marvel." --Frank Conroy
""A Day at the Beach" is at once charming and deeply moving. Anyone who admired "The Duke of Deception" will be drawn to this compelling memoir." --Richard Selzer
"It's impossible to read Geoffrey Wolff's essays without being reminded what good writing is for. The complexities, the punishments, the exuberance of having a full life are his subject. There is no parsimony here, no falseness, no evasion. There is just the deeply satisfying familiarity of Wolff's voice. You sense the completeness of the man in the writer." --Verlyn Klinkenborg
""A Day at the Beach" sneaks up on you in several places with remarkably steady views of American values in the face of mortality. It is an absorbing book, literate, full of life and marvelous information." --Thomas McGuane
"Wol

A memoir of uncommon grace and self-deprecating charm. . . . Buoyant and forceful. "Newsday"
Wolff is always a dream to read. . . . "A Day at the Beach" is a "delice" from one of America s best memoirists. "The Village Voice"
Sparkling. . . . Style is the hero of these essays. . . . [Wolff] has lived a rich, full life that sounds almost Victorian in its mix of adventure and stability. "The New York Times"
More fun, more instructive, more heartwarming than any day at the beach I can recall. A splendid collection. George Plimpton
Elegant. . . . Provide[s] an upbeat counterpoint to the troubled father-son relationship chronicled in "The Duke of Deception." . . . In Geoffrey Wolff, America is blessed. "Los Angeles Times"
Honest and touching. . . . [Wolff explores] the romance of building the clean well-lighted sentence. "Chicago Tribune "
Exhilarating. . . . Conjures up a diversity of scenes, set in locations ranging from Istanbul to Greenwich Village to a Caribbean beach. "Publishers Weekly"
Wolff is one of the all-time great yarn spinners, and the texture of his prose is a marvel. Frank Conroy
"A Day at the Beach" is at once charming and deeply moving. Anyone who admired "The Duke of Deception" will be drawn to this compelling memoir. Richard Selzer
It s impossible to read Geoffrey Wolff s essays without being reminded what good writing is for. The complexities, the punishments, the exuberance of having a full life are his subject. There is no parsimony here, no falseness, no evasion. There is just the deeply satisfying familiarity of Wolff s voice. You sense the completeness of the man in the writer. Verlyn Klinkenborg
"A Day at the Beach" sneaks up on you in several places with remarkably steady views of American values in the face of mortality. It is an absorbing book, literate, full of life and marvelous information. Thomas McGuane
Wolff has ripened through the years to a generous empathy and a supple specificity that mark him as a very special talent. As a story-telling essayist, he can be bravura, gentle or informative, balancing mercy with incongruity. One reads him wishing he were in the room. Edward Hoagland"

About the Author:

Geoffrey Wolff is the author of six novels and six works of nonfiction, including the memoir The Duke of Deception, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 1994 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. From 1995 to 2006, he directed the Graduate Program in Writing at the University of California, Irvine. For his writing, he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Academy in Berlin. He lives in Bath, Maine.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0679744495
• ISBN 13: 9780679744498
• Binding: Paperback