托马斯·克莱顿·沃尔夫(1900—1938)出生于北卡罗来纳州一个石匠家庭。自幼酷爱阅读与幻想，二十岁毕业于北卡罗来纳州立大学，进入哈佛研究院学习戏剧，获英国文学硕士学位，并在纽约大学任教。一丸二九年，他凭自传体小说《天使，望故乡》蜚声文坛，被认为是最有前途的美国小．说家。一九三五年《时间与河流》出版，成为畅销书。仅三年后，沃尔夫便因病去世。他的大量遗藕经编辑出版，成为另两部长篇小说《蛛网与磐石》和《你不能再回家》，短篇小说集《从死亡到早晨》，以及一部未完成的杂集《远山》。沃尔夫的自传体小说围绕作者的生平经历与感受形成了一个整体。从出生开始写起，一直到主人公以成名作家的身份重回故乡为止，重现了作者本人充溅孤独、幻想、思索与渴望的一生。

The sequel to Thomas Wolfe's remarkable first novel, "Look Homeward, Angel, Of Time and the River" is one of the great classics of American literature. The book chronicles the maturing of Wolfe's autobiographical character, Eugene Gant, in his desperate search for fulfillment, making his way from small-town North Carolina to the wider world of Harvard University, New York City, and Europe. In a massive, ambitious, and boldly passionate novel, Wolfe examines the passing of time and the nature of the creative process, as Gant slowly but ecstatically embraces the urban life, recognizing it as a necessary ordeal for the birth of his creative genius as a writer.The work of an exceptionally expressive writer of fertile imagination and startling emotional intensity, "Of Time and the River" illuminates universal truths about art and life, city and country, past and present. It is a novel that is majestic and enduring. As P. M. Jack observed in "The New York Times, " "It is a triumphant demonstration that Thomas Wolfe has the stamina to produce a magnificent epic of American life."This edition, published in celebration of Wolfe's centennial anniversary, contains a new introduction by Pat Conroy.