Townie: A Memoir

Won Book of the Year Adult Non-Fiction—2012 Indie Choice Awards
Amazon Best Book of the Month February 2011

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Andre Dubus III is most famous for his third book, House of Sand and Fog, an Oprah's Book Club pick that was made into an Academy Award–nominated movie. Dubus might be almost as well known because of his father, Andre Dubus, who is widely considered to have been one of the best short story writers of the 20th century. Townie, Dubus III's memoir, recounts his days growing up with and without his father, becoming a fighter, and finally becoming a writer in his own right. We chose Townie for our Indiespensable book club a few years ago, and every single person in our office who read it — which was quite a few — was blown away by its beauty and honesty. It is, in a way, a study of and repudiation of male violence, and Dubus treats the subject with empathy, thoughtfulness, and care. Touching, gripping, and mesmerizing, Townie is an exceptional achievement. Recommended By Jill O., Powells.com

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.

“Starred Review. In this gritty and gripping memoir, Dubus bares his soul in stunning and page-turning prose.” Publishers Weekly

“Starred review. Powerful, haunting. . . . Beautifully written and bursting with life.” Kirkus Reviews

"Dubus relives, absent self-pity or blame, a life shaped by bouts of violence and flurries of tenderness." Vanity Fair

Andre Dubus III is the author of The Garden of Last Days, House of Sand and Fog (a #1 New York Times bestseller, Oprah’s Book Club pick, and finalist for the National Book Award) and Townie, winner of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. His writing has received many honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Magazine Award, and two Pushcart Prizes. He lives with his family north of Boston.