Product Description

Passion and betrayal, violent desperation, ambivalent love that hinges on hatred, and the quest for acceptance by those who stand on the edge of society-these are the hard-hitting themes of a stunningly crafted first collection of stories by the bestselling author of House of Sand and Fog.

A vigilant young man working in a halfway house finds himself unable to defend against the rage of one of the inmates in the title story. In "White Trees, Hammer Moon," a man soon to leave home for prison finds himself as unprepared for a family camping trip in the mountains of New Hampshire as he has been for most things in his life. And in the award-winning "Forky," an ex-con is haunted by the punishment he receives just as he is being released into the world. With an incisive ability to inhabit the lives of his characters, Dubus travels deep into the heart of the elusive American dream.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #886080 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-09
• Released on: 2001-10-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"In his first collection, Dubus displays a firm grasp of the requirements of satisfying short fiction and a wide-ranging eye tightly focused on the telling detail," wrote PW. "Often violent, given to drink, vulnerable to sexual desire, Dubus's characters are equally capable of compassion and love. No unessential information diminishes the impact of these stories, but what does matter is grippingly and generously portrayed."
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This author takes risks, launching a fiction career just as his critically praised father publishes a story collection (see review above), and treating themes likely to startle, if not repel, some readers. The risks pay off. Dubus here reveals a talent that may one day make him equal to his father in narrative mastery. His characters live on the lower end of U.S. society, enmeshed in sometimes violent struggles as they clutch at the rim of sanity. The stark descriptions of these disaffected souls in the first six stories jolt readers into contemplating the nature of evil. The final tale, "Last Dance," is gentler in its Faulkneresque evocation of a nighttime turtle hunt in Louisiana but matches the rest in clarity of vision. Recommended.Starr E. Smith, Georgetown Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C .
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Powerful... Richly original."
--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Andre Dubus has a talent for delineating the everyday pathos of obscure, unglamorous lives."
--The New York Times Book Review

"[An] insightful exploration of the nature of violence."
--San Francisco Examiner
-- Review

Customer Reviews

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. Also, without a drop of sentimentality, we are shown a touching affection that grows between the ex-con and the more or less random woman he picks up at a bar. This story proves once and for all that real life is interesting enough. We don't need car explosions or alien take-overs to make a story engaging. What we need are authors with insight, of which Andre Dubus III has an abundance.

Any fan of the stark realism of Richard Ford, Raymond Carver, or Russell Banks' more recent writing will appreciate these short stories.

Can something be great, yet mixed?
I was up in the mountains of New Hampshire when I read this collection of short stories so I found the New England settings of these stories just about perfect. The writing is thoroughly enjoyable. Andres Dubus III knows how to turn a phrase and describe a scene with the best of them. The reason that I gave this collection 4 stars was the fact that many of the ending disappointed me. The endings made the stories disappear. Dubus III has a style that really locks you in to the characters. Many of the main characters are problem individuals who you end up viewing with or reading with empathy. When some of the endings fall off the cliff, so to speak you end up feeling cheated for developing this empathy. Other than that the stories are creative and fantastic in the ways of Carver, Chekhov and Johnson.