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Ugly Rumours was the first novel by American writer
Tobias WolffTobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff is an American author. He is known for his memoirs, particularly This Boy's Life , and his short stories. He has also written two novels.-Biography:Wolff was born in 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama...
. It was published only in
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, in
1975The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* August 12 — with the 20-year time limit stipulated by Thomas Mann at his death having expired, sealed packets containing 32 of the author's notebooks were opened in Zurich, Switzerland.* Writing under the...
, and has never been reprinted. The book does not appear in Wolff's list of publications included in recent books -- the
London Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
commented on this omission, stating that "to read
(Ugly Rumours) is to understand why (it was omitted from the list of publications)" -- and when his novel
Old SchoolOld School is a novel by Tobias Wolff. It was first published on November 4, 2003, after three portions of the novel had appeared in The New Yorker as short stories....
was published in
2004The year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
, all publicity copy referred to it as his first novel. This is not so much inaccurate as it indicates Wolff's repudiation of his early work.
In 2003, Wolff described
Rumours as "terrible", saying that it was "the best (he) could do at the time, but it really wasn't very good", and that it now "embarrasses" him.
In 2011, Wolff stated that he has "no feeling for the book now, no interest in it, and no interest in attracting attention to it by talking about it."
Plot summary
During the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, two Special Forces soldiers attempt to avoid combat duty.