After Gregory

by Austin Wright

Peter Gregory, a 35-year-old high school English teacher with an ex-wife and kids, tries to drown himself in the Ohio River. Failing to manage even that, he decides to hitch a ride east, fleeing the state and escaping accusations of rape and murder. As he assumes and discards aliases along the way, he believes that he can begin again, a fresh start—but the past has a habit of catching up with all of us, no matter how fast we run.

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Austin McGiffert Wright was a novelist, literary critic and professor emeritus of English at the University of Cincinnati.
He grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, son of the geographer John Kirtland Wright and Katharine McGiffert Wright, and namesake of his uncle, Austin Tappan Wright, writer of the utopian novel, Islandia. He graduated from Harvard University in 1943. He served in the Army (1943–1946). He graduated from the University of Chicago, with a master's degree in 1948, and a Ph.D. in 1959.

He married Sara Hull Wright, in 1950. They had three children: Joanna Wright (died 2000), Katharine Wright of Berkeley, CA, and Margaret Wright, and two granddaughters, Madeline Giscombe and Elizabeth Perkins.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the one book I used to pitch when I was hot in Hollywood for five minutes.

[Mikee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Gregory, high school English teacher, finds his life falling apart. To deal with this (or not), he writes a note and puts in on his windshield wiper, then wades into a freezing river to die. At some point mid-river he decides maybe he doesn’t want to die, so he swims across and climbs out. Deciding there’s nothing worth going back to, he changes his name and takes a new identity. This process repeats itself several times through the book, and is actually quite fascinating. The only disappointment I felt was at the very end, which reads like it was written by an academic rather than an author. In fact the actual author is both, and the disappointment at the end doesn’t detract from the joy of reading the whole story.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Confusing and strange, but good

[Ariadna73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely interesting, exciting. Always kept me at the edge of my chair. This story is about a man who fakes his own suicide and then embarks on a string of odd adventures. There are some classic Wright scenes, like the hitchhiker's adventures and misadventures, and the three thugs in a car picking up and robbing an innocent peasant. Very nice book in a general sense.