William Hoffman (1)
Author of Tidewater Blood
For other authors named William Hoffman, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Henry William Hoffman was born in Charleston, West Virginia on May 16, 1925. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute before entering the U.S. Army in September 1943. He served as a medic in the Normandy campaign and at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. He was discharged in February show more 1946. He received a bachelor's degree from Hampden-Sydney College in 1949. He studied law at Washington and Lee University, but quit after the publication of his first short story in 1950. He studied at the Iowa Writers' Workshop for one year. After working in Washington, D.C., for the Evening Star newspaper and for the U.S. Department of Defense, and then in New York City for Chase National Bank, Hoffman returned to Hampden-Sydney. He taught at the college from 1952 until 1959 and was the writer-in-residence from 1966 until his retirement in 1973. He was the author of fourteen novels, four short-story collections, and two plays. His novels included The Trumpet Unblown, Days in the Yellow Leaf, The Dark Mountains, Yancey's War, Godfires, Wild Thorn, and Lies. His first collection of short stories, Virginia Reels, was published in 1978. His plays included The Love Touch and The Spirit in Me. He won the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature in 1992, the O. Henry Prize in 1996, and the Dashiell Hammett Award in 1999 for Tidewater Blood. He died on September 13, 2009 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by William Hoffman
The Trumpet Unblown 2 copies
Associated Works
Growing Up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature (1991) — Contributor — 163 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Hampden-Sydney College
- Organizations
- Fellowship of Southern Writers
- Awards and honors
- Hillsdale Award for Fiction (1995)
John Dos Passos Prize (1992) - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Virginia, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Virginia, USA
Members
Reviews
I kept trying to reject this book. It didn't look that interesting and what I had read about it sounded like it wasn't going to be. In the beginning, the plot wasn't even that interesting but something would not let me put it down. I don't know what it was but I do know it was a great read. Charley LeBlanc was born a half century ago with a silver spoon in his mouth which he spit out early and legitimately earned the label black sheep. But he was not behind the blast that blew up his family show more - no matter what the local sheriff thinks. show less
Walter (Raff) Frampton, Drake Wingo and Cliff Dickens haven been best friends since grade school. Now men in their 30's, the three get together whenever possible and when Drake suggests a grouse hunt at his cabin in West Virginia the friends quickly agree to the weekend vacation. A fourth man, Wendell Ripley, who owns the land on which they are hunting, accompanies the group for the first time. During the hunt a terrible accident occurs when Cliff accidently shoots and kills Wendell. The show more local police believe that there is more to the incident than what Cliff is telling them and within a few days Cliff is arrested for murder. He calls on Raff, a lawyer, to help defend him but Raff senses there is a secret between Drake and Cliff that is behind the entire hunt. Raff is forced to investigate the lives of his two best friends and he uncovers much more than he bargained for.
This is a well-developed mystery with a good plot and some great writing. I didn't figure it out until the end and it was a pretty good reveal. show less
This is a well-developed mystery with a good plot and some great writing. I didn't figure it out until the end and it was a pretty good reveal. show less
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 17
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 234
- Popularity
- #96,590
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 69
- Languages
- 3