An autobiographical novel, “Look Homeward, Angel,” published in 1929, is an astonishing kaleidoscope of Thomas Wolfe’s vivid memories of his childhood and youth: of his home town, Asheville (North Carolina), hidden in the text behind the fictional Altamont; of the era of the author’s family’s union and breakup and the complicated relationships among its members; and of the first steps of a person into the vast and frightening world.