For the most part Woolf lived the life he depicts in his writing, deliberately rejecting the expectations of mainstream America and preferring to live among and as society's misfits. He wandered incessantly, usually by car, preferring temporary marginal jobs of all kinds ― such as migrant farm worker, driver, ice cream seller, door-to-door market researcher — providing much of the experiences and detail of his fiction.
Woolf lived a life that mirrored his writing, rejecting mainstream American expectations and choosing to live among society's marginalized individuals. He traveled frequently by car, taking on various temporary jobs like farm work, driving, selling ice cream, or conducting market research, which he used to inform his fiction.