The Barracks Thief

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The Barracks Thief (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)

The Novel

Tobias Wolff’s novella-length The Barracks Thief reads more like a long short story than a novel. Consisting of seven brief chapters, it seems at first to be a simple and unassuming story with little or no thematic significance; however, as is often the case with novellas, the more one thinks about the work, the more psychologically and morally complex becomes this exploration of the motivations of three inarticulate young men caught up in the demands of masculinity.

Although the story begins with the teenage brothers Keith and Philip Bishop’s...

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• The Barracks Thief (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
• The Barracks Thief (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
• The Barracks Thief (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
• The Barracks Thief (Magill Book Reviews)

See Also:

• Tobias Wolff (Cyclopedia of World Authors)
• Tobias Wolff (Short Fiction)