“We Shall Not All Sleep is a captivating coming-of-age story woven with danger, mystery, and the bonds between father and son, husband and wife, and faithful friends. It is a haunting tale of a quest, enduring love, and the price of redemption.”
Read more about the book here.
Listen to me read the first paragraph here.
Listen to the soundtrack here.
Buy the book at B&N, Amazon, or if you want to support independent booksellers, at Bookshop. If you buy directly from Slant Books, you’ll be supporting a non-profit publisher dedicated to printing beautiful work that doesn’t fit the algorithms of Big Publishing.
Early reviews of We Shall Not All Sleep
We Shall Not All Sleep is an emotionally charged, beautifully written portrait of a father and son’s deep love for each other, and of the guilt and hauntings, both real and imagined, that threaten and challenge them. It’s very thoughtful and very fine.
Ron Hansen, author of Mariette in Ecstasy
Tony Woodlief has written an incantatory novel that seeps into your heart and will not let you go. We Shall Not All Sleep asks essential questions. When the present and past break you, when hauntings won’t release you, when mysteriously dark forces whisper in the wind, what do you do? The novel’s answer will shake you to your core, will make you wiser, will inspire you to believe in the power of love again, and will—as all great books do—change you. These characters and their lives—so human, so flawed, so beautiful—will stay with you long after the final page is turned.
Connie May Fowler, Author of Before Women had Wings
Tony Woodlief’s work is the unvarnished, resolute, hardwood prose of a man who writes with a determined honesty—as if he is staking ground in a battle; as if God is staring him in the face and he dare write nothing less. To read him is as bracing as it is rewarding.
A.G. Harmon, author of A House All Stilled
Tony Woodlief
Author + Columnist
Tony Woodlief is a writer born and raised in North Carolina. He spent many years in the Midwest before moving back to a small town in his home state, and along the way he earned a PhD in political science from the University of Michigan and an MFA from Wichita State University. His essays on faith, parenting, politics, and culture have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Post, and other publications. His short fiction has appeared in Image, Reckon Review, Ruminate, Dappled Things, and elsewhere. His story “Name” received a Pushcart Honorable Mention in 2010, and was included in Image Journal’s 25th anniversary anthology.
Tony’s spiritual memoir, Somewhere More Holy, was listed among Image’s top ten works of 2010. His 2021 book I, Citizen, has received praise from readers across the political spectrum, and sparked the award-winning 2023 documentary Undivide Us. His most recent book is the novel We Shall Not All Sleep.
“Tony Woodlief’s work is the unvarnished, resolute, hardwood prose of a man who writes with a determined honesty—as if he is staking ground in a battle; as if God is staring him in the face and he dare write nothing less. To read him is as bracing as it is rewarding.”
– A.G. Harmon, author,
Some Bore Gifts
“Tony Woodlief is a writer of remarkable range.”
– Image
“One day you’re going to write something that gets you shot.”
– Tony’s mama
Tony Woodlief
Author + Columnist
“Tony Woodlief explains why localizing politics and loving thy neighbor can help heal our ailing country.”
Bill Kauffman, author, Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette
“Tony Woodlief is a writer of remarkable range.”
– Image
“One day you’re going to write something that gets you shot.”
– Tony’s mama
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I, Citizen
Tony Woodlief offers a refreshing truth about America, which is that we aren’t nearly so divided as pundits would have us believe. Deftly walking the reader through polling data and political history with a generous helping of humor, Woodlief shows that the real problem is not a looming civil war between citizens, but quiet collusion among the political class to undermine the capacity of everyday citizens to govern their communities as they see fit. Woodlief concludes with steps we can all take to reclaim American self-governance.
Fiction and Creative Writing
Faith and Parenthood
Resources for fathers who want to do better, reflections for parents of all ages, and earnest grappling with faith and doubt.
Politics and Culture
Essays on topics like free speech, community autonomy, and busting up big school districts, with an occasional foray into existential struggles, like the imperative of killing vampires.
