1974-1975 worthless spiritual meditations

books:

2 reviews
Andre Dubus

David R Godine, 1999

adultery & other choices
When I read Dubus I am reminded of a statement I read by Dostoyevsky about the difficulty a writer has depicting ordinary people. Dubus nullifies that; I have never encountered another author who appears to so effortlessly capture the subtle and poignant shades of commonplace experience. There are passages, pages, entire sections of his stories which read like pure intuition. He has such a gift ...

We Don't Live Here Anymore: Three Novellas

7 reviews
Andre Dubus

Vintage, 2004

As Fine a Collection of Novellas as Anyone Ever Published
The three novellas collected here -- We Don't Live Here Anymore, Adultery, and Finding a Girl in America -- all concern an overlapping cast of characters, notably our man Hank, a Dubus doppelganger who can't seem to find the right balance between freedom and devotion, but who is drawn with such empathy that we forgive him even as those he has loved and wronged forgive him in the stories. My ...

The Best Spiritual Writing 2001 (Best Spiritual Writing)

2 reviews
Philip Zaleski, Andre Dubus III

HarperOne, 2001

Find LIFE ABUNDANT in these Slice-of-Life Tales!
Philip Zaleski has done a masterful job of seeking out and commending the work of some eighty writers who live for "making sentences," as Joseph Epstein confesses. And because they do, they tell with great beauty of the particular struggles and joys which have brought them along a spiritual path. Some of these writers make us comfortable, some disturb. The reading becomes an ...

Dancing After Hours: Stories

10 reviews
Andre Dubus

Vintage, 1997

THIS IS YOUR LIFE
After finishing this collection of stories I am asking myself just how good was it? The hype on the back of the book compares Dubus to Chekhov, Carver, and Flannery O'Connor. It might be that good. As you're reading the stories, most of which are about spiritual crises, or the equivalent, you begin to see the universality in these microcosms of life. The writer and the characters draw you into a ...

The Garden of Last Days: A Novel

26 reviews
Andre Dubus III

W. W. Norton, 2008

Magnificent Journey Into Understanding
THe Garden of Last Days is a spectacular journey into the humanity behind the headlines. We don't often want to open our hearts to the inner psyche of those we've already judged as evil. We tend to take offense to lifestyles we, ourselves, consider immoral or weak. I laud Andre Dubus III for his courage to explore these inner sanctums. If I could give this book ten stars, I'd do so. Susan ...

Selected Stories

13 reviews
Andre Dubus

Vintage, 1995

Worth reading again and again . . .
I just finished reading Dubus's Selected Stories for the fourth time. I've also read his other books, and I'm glad to report that Dubus is one of the few writers whose work can be read again and again with increased pleasure, a rare enough thing. So many kinds of stories are packed into this volume -- short stories and novellas, deep character studies ("A Father's Story"), topical stories ...

Meditations from a Movable Chair

14 reviews
Andre Dubus

Vintage, 1999

Keep Praying
All over the world we should keep praying for the repose of Andre Dubus's soul, for he prayed so hard for the repose of ours. This book, and any of the others, is for the reader tired of glitz but unwilling to be dishonest. Do you believe in poetry after Auschwitz? How about the Eucharist after Columbine? If these are hard questions, read Andre Dubus. He had no easy answers, no quick ...

The House of Sand and Fog

1 review
Andre Dubus III

Recorded Books, 2001

A MODERN DAY GREEK TRAGEDY...
This book is simply a masterpiece. It is an exceptionally well-written and brilliantly told story of two people whose destinies become intertwined through a simple twist of fate. It is the story of what happens to them and to those who love them, when their respective worlds collide in a climactic and tragic ending. It is the story of Colonel Behrani, a formerly wealthy Iranian, who had ...

In the Bedroom

12 reviews
Andre Dubus

Vintage, 2002

Todd Field's preface says it all...
All I can say is Todd Field was right...after reading this wonderful collection you'll never be the same. I for one am not the type to read many short stories, but after seeing and falling in love with Todd Fields film `In the Bedroom' I just had to read `Killings', the short story that the film was based upon. `Killings' to me opened this collection with such a strong start, chronicling ...

House of Sand and Fog (Oprah's Book Club)

739 reviews
Andre Dubus III

HarperAudio, 2001

Israel
House of Sand and Fog could well be an allegory for the complex and embattled history of Israel with its Arab neighbors, and of course, with Iran. What is Israel's claim? "The Holy Land was promised to us by our Father"...Kathy inherited the house from her Dad. She feels entitled. the tribes of Israel were wrongfully evicted from their true home early in their history, and when they finally came ...

Finding a Girl in America: A Novella and Ten Short Stories

1 review
Andre Dubus

David R Godine, 1993

Andre Dubus at his finest
I have read all of the books Andre Dubus ever published and in my opinion this is his finest collection. His piece, "Finding a Girl in America" is some of the most passionate and honest writing I have ever encountered. Much of the writing here is raw, but his words have a flow to them that rings with such a power, they live with you long after you put the book down. If you want a "writer's" ...

Bluesman

17 reviews
Andre Dubus

Faber & Faber, 1993

Heartstrings are played like harmonicas.
I am writing this review fresh off the read....just hugged the book before I tucked it back on my bookshelves. It is my ultimate praise as the book touched my heart so deeply. "The House of Sand and Fog" is on my top ten list of all time books...high praise given I have read thousands in my lifetime. That said, I love that "Bluesman" has a totally different feel. Our young protaginist, Leo, ...

Ploughshares (Vol. 2, No. 2) 1974-1975 "Special Realism Issue"
Scott Turow, Richard Yates, ...

Ploughshares, 1974

Vol 2, No 2, 1974-5 Ploughshares "Special Realism Issue." Richard Yates, Tim O'Brien, Andre Dubus, Carla Tomaso, James Alan McPherson, Dewitt Henry et al and, get this: an essay by Scott Turow on Tillie Olsen. Slight wear from gentle reading, in the form of minor creasing of bottom corner of back wrapper and a few areas of minor discoloring, else clean, bright, near fine 1974 journal, an early sentinel of the current Boston literary scene. No ...

DUBUS ANDRE : LAST WORTHLESS EVENING

2 reviews
ANDRE DUBUS

Penguin Books Australia Ltd., 1988

These Stories Will Break Your Heart, Then Mend It
The Last Worthless Evening is Andre Dubus's least acclaimed collection, but it contains one of his most moving novellas, "Rose," and another fine novella, "Molly," that has been neglected by most readers because it has not been collected in his Selected Stories or Collected Novellas. I can hardly think of a more adult book than The Last Worthless Evening. It is compassionate, wise, and ...

The Times Are Never So Bad: A Novella and Eight Short Stories
Andre Dubus

David R Godine, 1994

The focus of this collection, which includes the often praised tale "A Father's Story," as well as the novella "the Pretty Girl," is on the twisting deformations of love, on domestic disturbances, and on marriages whose sanctity can no longer bind them.

The Cage Keeper: And Other Stories

2 reviews
Andre Iii Dubus

Vintage, 2001

Like Father Like Son
Andre Dubus III is keeping in the family tradition by writing masterful short stories like his father, Andre Dubus. For me the best story is "Forky," the story of a man recently out of prison trying--bluntly said--to get laid. Despite the harsh setting, we are given, via the remembrances of the ex-convict, the heart-felt stories of his brother and a fellow prisoner who reminds him of his brother. ...

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