The early career of Malcolm Cowley Book

When their parents divorced, brothers Geoffrey and Tobias Wolff each went with one parent -- Tobias with their mother (famously portrayed in the book and movie "This Boy's Life") and older brother Geoffrey with their father. More people know Tobias' story; lesser known is the odyssey Geoffrey describes in living with their father. Turns out the college degrees and family pedigree of which Dad was so proud were all lies. In fact, as the title indicates, just about everything in his life is a lie. From one swindle to another, Geoffrey moves about the country with his father. Eventually, though, the bad checks and phony stories of the father become a burden for the son. It's a riveting yet heartbreaking story.

If you read "The Duke of Deception," plan on going immediately from it to "This Boy's Life." That two brothers were leading these lives simultaneously -- one suffering the abuse of the mother's psychotic husband, the other coming to grips with a sociopathic father -- is mind boggling.

And here's another suggestion: After you read those two, go straight to Tobias Wolff's Vietnam memoir, "In Pharaoh's Army." Geoffrey and their father make an appearance toward the end. That's not a spoiler, because if you read the other two books, you will know that there has to be some kind of encounter on Tobias' return from Vietnam.