"The hero's . . . consciousness gave rise to a . . . lyricism that was endlessly sustained by the raw yearning . . . for an epic American existence." -Philip Roth, Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning author of Portnoy's Complaint
Originally published in 1929, Thomas Wolfe's autobiographical novel is a "sprawling, fecund, subtly rhythmic and amazingly vital" epic of rural American life (The New York Times). Based on his own upbringing in Asheville, North Carolina, Wolfe's stream of consciousness narrative tells the story of Eugene Gant, a young man of literary ambitions who comes of age during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Chronicling small town life during the Great War, and detailing Eugene's attempt to rise above his dysfunctional, provincial family, Look Homeward, Angel vividly reflects the culture of the times and the trials of longing for a life that is bigger than the one you were born to.
"No American novelist is so vigilant in the perception of character or so urgent in its expression." -The New York Times Book Review
"Language as rich and ambitious and intensely American as any of our novelists has ever accomplished." -Charles Frazier, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons
"Look Homeward, Angel is one of the most important novels of my life . . . It's a wonderful story for any young person burning with literary ambition, but it also speaks to the longings of our whole lives." -Elizabeth Kostova, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Historian
"I discovered a version of myself in Look Homeward, Angel, and I became intoxicated with the elevated, poetic prose." -Robert Morgan, New York Times–bestselling author of Gap Creek
