Show Us the Father

In his first memoir, the renowned critic explores his preacher-father's mysterious decision to desert his own parents and the fallout for their family.

He had been, in all the important ways, an impeccable father. And he had been, in all the important ways, a terrible son.

When James Wood and his siblings were growing up in the English city of Durham, they confronted a peculiar absence in their family. Their father, Dennis, a mild-mannered zoologist, never spoke of his own parents, and didn't even seem to know or care if they were alive. How was it that this figure of impeccable rectitude had come to abandon his own father and mother? Was it to please his wife, Sheila, a socially anxious schoolteacher from a higher-class background whose bearing made her children think of Margaret Thatcher? Was it due to Dennis's own distinct identity or lack of one —so generous and giving that he seemed to lack a "self" in certain crucial respects? And when Dennis left his university job to become a vicar in a rural church and delivered eloquent sermons on the meaning of love and connection, what was he saying—or not saying—about himself and the life he'd led?

In this acute, comic, and affectionate memoir, Wood explores the enigma of his father's identity while also weighing the injuries and ties of class, religion, and family. As the author of How Fiction Works and other classics of contemporary criticism, Wood has shaped our understanding of literary art; here he offers a mystery and a vivid meditation on the slippery foundations of our deepest connections.