William Hoffman
Biographical Information
William Hoffman was born May 16, 1925 in Charleston, WV. Hoffman was raised in the home of his great-grandfather, a coalmine owner and a member of the local aristocracy. His mother was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy and Hoffman spent large amounts of time in Virginia, including attending camp there each summer. He served three years in the US Army during World War II (1943-46) and served with the army medical corps during the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, Hoffman attended Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, earning a BA in 1949 and then did graduate study at both Washington and Lee University and the University of Iowa. He returned to Hampden-Sydney as an assistant professor of English literature in 1952, and has served as a professor and writer-in-residence sporadically since that time.William Hoffman published his first novel, The Trumpet Unblown, in 1955. His second published novel, Days in the Yellow Leaf, was actually written before The Trumpet Unblown, but it was not published until 1958. Both novels reflect Hoffman's experiences during the Second World War. The protagonists of both novels, perhaps like Hoffman himself, conclude that "war, itself, is an outgrowth of human nature; fighting a declared war is merely doing battle with mankind's darker side." His third war novel, Yancey's War -- written nearly two decades after the war, is more removed from his own experiences, but still deals with aspects of war and human nature.
Hoffman continued to write and to publish, exploring themes of human confusion, conflict, and hope in war and in life. Later novels are set in Appalachia and other parts of the American South, including West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky. Settings, plots, and characters are as diverse as the human experience. Godfires and Tidewater Blood are novels of fast-past and breathtaking suspense; while A Death of Dreams explores the slipping reality of a man confined to a mental institution. Though all these people and places, Hoffman continued to explore human nature and the heights and depth of the human spirit.
William Hoffman married Alice Sue Richardson in April 1957. The couple has two children and three grandchildren. They live in Virginia.
Critical Responses
Despite the fact that he has published eleven novels and three short story collection, William Hoffman's name is largely unknown and his literary skills unappreciated even in his home state. Contemporary Authors describes Hoffman's work as "sensitive, character-driven portraits of the American South, often overlaid on an action-filled plot." His characters often face the confusion and conflict of old values and a new, self-centered world - confusion found in battle-torn soldiers and in life-torn souls. Part of this recurring theme of conflict and confusion is the idea that that to be alive is to experience suffering and pain. In the words of Jackson LeJohn, the protagonist of A Walk to the River - "To grieve, a man has to be alive and to care about something." Contemporary Southern Writers perhaps best summarizes the overall theme and character of Hoffman's writing:
Religion and its values, life and its searches, morality and its articulation are central to the fiction. His characters, encompassing the spectrum of mankind, find their humanness as the common denominator. The easy flow of Hoffman's storytelling belies the sharpness of his perspective, the craftsmanship of his art, and the keenness of his ear for language. Each story is a finely-wrought artifact where life is both tragic and courageous, but never without hope.
Works Published
- The Trumpet Unblown
- Days in the Yellow Leaf
- A Place for My Head
- The Dark Mountains
- Yancey's War
- A Walk to the River
- A Death of Dreams
- Virginia Reels (short stories)
- The Land That Drank the Rain
- Godfires
- By Land, By Sea (short stories)
- Furors Die
- Follow Me Home (short stories)
- Tidewater Blood
- Doors (short stories)
- Blood and Guile
- Wild Thorn
Selected Bibliography
Chappell, Fred. Taking Measure: Violent Intruders in William Hoffman's Short Fiction. The Sewanee Review, Summer 1996. 104(3), 396.
Dodd, David. Tidewater Blood (book reviews). Library Journal, March 1, 1998. 123(4), 127.
Frank, William L. The Fiction of William Hoffman: An Introduction. The Hollins Critic, February 1991. 28(1), 1-11.
Geeslin, Campbell. Godfires (book reviews). People Weekly, August 5, 1985. 24, 11.
The Land That Drank the Rain (book review). Library Journal, July 1982. 107, 1345.
Person, James E., Jr. Trying to Play the Hand Dealt by Life. The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA). December 8, 2002. p.E3.
Tidewater Blood (book reviews). Publishers Weekly, February 16, 1998. 245(7), 202.
Waterhouse, Carole. Godfires (book review). The New York Times Book Review, July 28, 1985. 90, 18.
Author Website
none available