You Can’t Go Home Again

One of North Carolina’s most famous authors, Thomas Wolfe, wrote some of America’s most treasured novels and short stories. Wolfe grew up in a home in Asheville, with an often-drunk father in poor health and a mother who worked long hours at the boardinghouse she operated.

When Wolfe later published Look Homeward, Angel, the novel was received well by literary critics, but not by several citizens in Asheville, who recognized many of the characters as themselves.

Years later when the writer finally returned to Asheville, the rebuke from locals gave Wolfe another novel title: You Can’t Go Home Again.

– Ron Smith, S&A Communications