Townie: A Memoir

Townie: A Memoir, by Andre Dubus III
 
Andre Dubus wrote the much-praised and popular House of Sand and Fog in 2000. His latest book, Townie: A Memoir has also received great acclaim for its direct, candid and, at times, brutal recounting of Dubus's growing up in a series of dilapidated Massachusetts mill towns that have experienced far better days in the past. His family life was often chaotic. One of four children, Dubus's father was an English college professor and aspiring writer troubled by alcohol addiction. After Dubus's parents divorced, his father basically became an absent father and his mother struggled to provide Dubus and his three siblings a stable home life with infrequent success. Financial issues were constantly challenging his family. Often their refrigerator and kitchen shelves were nearly empty of food.

This is a bleak story of a childhood filled with constant upheavals and family struggles. Eventually though, Dubus does achieve a relationship of sorts with his father and his family does come together, in their way, as a unit. Dubus's writing style powerfully recreates his youth, adolescence and early adulthood very vividly. He writes in a crisp, direct manner which makes for engrossing reading. For those readers who enjoyed House of Sand and Fog, Townie is an excellent book to show the talented development of Andres Dubus III as a terrific writer.
-Roy