Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Townie: A Memoir

Townie: A Memoir
Townie A Memoir
Author: Andre Dubus III
An acclaimed novelist reflects on his violent past and a lifestyle that threatened to destroy him?until he was saved by writing.After their parents divorced in the 1970s, Andre Dubus III and his three siblings grew up with their exhausted working mother in a depressed Massachusetts mill town saturated with drugs and everyday violence. To protect...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780393340679
ISBN-10: 0393340678
Publication Date: 2/6/2012
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 2.9/5 Stars.
 7

2.9 stars, based on 7 ratings
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 5
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Townie: A Memoir on + 89 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
ARC 391 ppgs.
There is a quote on the front cover of my copy that says a lot. It's by Richard Russo and says, "I've never read a better or more serious meditation on violence, its sources,consequences,and, especially, its terrifying pleasures.". This tells the reader so much about this book. It is so filled with violence and anger that it was hard to read in places. So, you ask, why bother?

Well, I love Dubus's work. I've read THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG and THE GARDEN OF LAST DAYS. Waiting on my shelf is BLUESMAN and I can't wait to dig in. This book also encouraged me to try and get some of his father's work to read. I believe that he did mainly short stories and essays.

This is not a book for the fainthearted. It is indeed violent. For me, it gave me great insight into the rage that you find in his novels. The other plus is that it is a study of how he comes to learn that violence is not the answer to everything. I was hoping that it would go that far.

Loved it!
Read All 1 Book Reviews of "Townie A Memoir"


Genres: