The Barracks Thief

The Barracks Thief, prizewinning author Tobias Wolff's debut novel, allows us to participate in lives we might otherwise condemn, forcing us to recognize the kinship of those lives to our own.When three young paratroopers stand guard over an ammunition dump threatened by a forest fire, they discover in themsleves an unexpected capacity for recklessness and violence.They emerge from their common danger full of confidence in their own manhood and in the bond of friendship they have formed, but this new confidence is soon shaken as a series of thefts throws suspicion in every direction.With perceptive clarity, Wolff shows how bonds forged in fire break under the stress of this new threat, and how each soldier must cope alone.SC, 101 pages.