Published in 1984, The Barracks Thief is a war novel written by the American author Tobias Wolff. Published shortly after the end of the Vietnam War, the novel takes place in the decade before its publication. Following not the story of one, but three paratroopers, all quite young, readers learn how people are brought closer together through the monstrosities brought on by war, and how these relationships cannot be helped because the situation was forced upon them.
The three paratroopers were drafted into the Vietnam war, and all of them find in each other what they find somewhat in themselves - a love of trying new things, no matter how dangerous they may be. With all of the similarities that they seem to share, a friendship forms, and they realize the potential for their manhood. However, the problem of the novel occurs when thefts occur in the place they are stationed, and the three cannot help but wonder if one of them is the culprit, or if it is worth asking or accusing one another at the potential cost of their friendship.
Tobias Wolff is an American author born in 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous publication is The Barracks Thief, and it is highly recognizable for it's structure of several stories all relating to the same plot and topic. He has taught at Stanford University since 1997, and wishes to potentially work there and write more short stories and novels until his retirement.
