Word: wolffe
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After his father's death, Wolff said he felt compelled to write Duke of Deception, because it "was the only way I know how to deal with being left behind by my father." Duke left behind his son both literally--deserting the family in the mobile home mecca of Sarasota, Florida, for a financially-draining fling on Vancouver Island--and emotionally--substituting "glittering things" for fatherly affection. Continuing the precedent set by Geoffrey's grandfather, Duke discovered "love's shortcut through stuff," lavishing filched motorboats and sportscars on his child...
...Duke as a classmate from Penn in Geoffrey's earshot--Geoffrey "preferred this fabulous notion to the transparent reality." Children year for security above all and so "it never occurred to me that my father lied." Duke was not the only one to lead a life of deception. Perhaps Wolff can forgive his father more easily than most because he is uncomfortably cognizant of his guilty role in the game. At the time he vaguely perceived the travesty but chose to ignore it: "Maybe I didn't care. I was safe...
...understandable that Geoffrey would shy away from the awful truths about his father, but it's peculiar that at no time did a suspicious employer challenge Duke Wolff with a copy of the Yale Alumni Directory. No one bothered to question his patently phony credentials, because Wolff's devil-may-care lifestyle harmonized with American post-war values, which rated bravado far above competency. Both the child, Geoffrey Wolff, and the nation idolized men who--like Duke--"despised prudence, savings accounts, looks before leaps...
...surprisingly, he sympathizes less when his mother errs. Though her offenses were less reprehensible, Wolff bears down on them harshly. When ten-year-old Geoffrey discovers his mother in bed with a grimy ex-Sarasota policeman, he reaches a verdict instantly--"it was all over"--and he catches the next bus to California to set up house for the next 20-odd years with father...
Duke meanwhile is whooping it up with everyone from the cleaning lady to the glamorous divorcee of a Harvard graduate, but Geoffrey manages to look the other way. In retrospect, Wolff has the sensitivity to concede a double-standard--"I wasn't fair; I always took my father's side"--but he never can bring himself to forsake...