Townie: A Memoir
Description
After their parents divorced in the 1970s, Andre Dubus III and his three siblings grew up with their overworked mother in a depressed Massachusetts mill town saturated with drugs and everyday violence. Nearby, his father, an eminent author, taught on a college campus and took the kids out on Sundays. The clash between town and gown, between the hard drinking, drugging, and fighting of "townies" and the ambitions of students debating books and ideas, couldn't have been more stark. In this unforgettable memoir, acclaimed novelist Dubus shows us how he escaped the cycle of violence and found empathy in channeling the stories of others--bridging, in the process, the rift between his father and himself.
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About the Author
Andre Dubus (1936-1999) is considered among the most talented American short stories writers of his generation. Born and raised in Louisiana, he spent his adult life living and teaching in blue-collar mill towns in northern New England.
Dubus's short stories and essays appeared in distinguished literary journals and magazines across the country, and were selected for numerous editions of the Best American Short Stories series, as well as the O. Henry Awards and Pushcart Prize anthologies. Dubus's work earned him MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, the Rea Award for the Short Story, the Jean Stein Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and nominations for a National Book Critics Circle Award and Pulitzer Prize.
In addition to seven collections of stories and novellas, Dubus published one novel and two collections of essays. The award-winning films In the Bedroom and We Don't Live Here Anymore were adapted from his stories.
Dubus is buried in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Reviews
Harrowing and strange and beautiful...This book marks an important moment in the growing body of Dubus's work.--Bret Lott
This haunting memoir is as explosive as a Muhammad Ali prize fight, as vivid as a Basquiat canvas...This wrenching story can only strengthen the reputation of Andre Dubus III. From father to son, the torch has passed.--Dan Cryer
A stormy and courageous memoir.--Kate Bittman
[Dubus III] is such a solid writer, he redeems the genre. He shows that truth can be as honest as fiction.--Mark Lindquist
Dubus has an eye for searing detail that is unequaled so far this century...and he employs that here to maximum effect.--Joy Tipping
The best first-person account of an author's life I have ever read. The violence that is described is the kind that is with us every day, whether we recognize it or not. The characters are wonderful and compassionately drawn. I sincerely believe Andre Dubus may be the best writer in America. His talent is enormous. No one who reads this book will ever forget it.--James Lee Burke
Whatever it cost Dubus to bare his soul and write this brutally honest and life-affirming memoir, it is an extraordinary gift to his readers.--Wally Lamb
