In the Bedroom (ISBN 1400030773)

Dubus gives us the well-crafted style, but does he deliver a well-crafted story?:
Andre Dubus is perhaps one of the three best short story writers of our age. That's not to say he's one of the best story tellers. His style is a gift from God. In this collection of short stories, he gives us some of finest descriptions 15-30 pagers worth of reading can garner, and within the pages of 'In the Bedroom', we are privileged to encounter this type of writing seven times over. But I will take a step out of the land of self-importance and pretentious amazon reviewing for a moment and speak as one simple person to (hopefully) another. Half of the stories in this book were boring at best. 'Rose' drags along for the first 3/4ths of the journey and ultimately leaves us with a letdown (commence with infuriated non-helpful review marking in 3..2..1...). I'm not saying I can write better. I'm not saying that with the ghost of Mark Twain dwelling within me I could write better. I'm just saying most of these stories dragged and gave me the same frightened children or the same mentally unstable parents that I could have sworn I just read about in the story before. I would have liked to have actually cared about the characters in these stories, and in one or two of them, I actually did. Most of the characters, however, were selfish jackwhipes who couldn't manage to unleash to smallest dose of empathy for any of them. LuAnn, who is the main character in 'All the Time in the World', is helplessly annoying and by the time I finished reading about her, I was hoping she would stay single for the rest of her life, unable to obtain love of any kind and ultimately become a pious, man-hating nun, burning sadistic effigies long after the other nuns had gone to bed (I think I might be alone on that one). Maybe ole Andre wanted to piss me off like that. Who knows? But that style, oh-my-friggin-goodness, that style. If I could write like Andre, I'd already be the father of 16 children from 12 different women.

Wonderful Collection:
Last night I finished off the short story collection by Dubus titled In the Bedroom. My reading of the collection began as an assignment for a screen writing class. I read The Killings on which the movie In the Bedroom is based, then read the screenplay and the movie. I can see why that short story was selected to be made into a movie, but I actually enjoyed the other stories in the collection bettery. Dubus has a gift for getting into the mind of some very different characters and truly saying what they think. I was particularly impressed with his work in the story titled The Fat Girl because he got the psyche correct. There were also several stories dealing w/ fathers that were very powerful, especially The Winter Father and A Father's Story which has a nice attitude at the end. Great little collection. One that I found easy to keep in the car when I'd get stuck in long lines, etc. Definitely worth the read. I am warming up to short stories, their beautiful smallness and closure.

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 basically what turns out to be the final minutes of the film (if you haven't seen the movie or read the short story I suggest you do as soon as you can because both in their own rights will move you). The other six stories also deliver, some more than others. Andre swims through human emotion and conflict effortlessly, making the reader sit back and contemplate every word and action as if they were his or her own. Stories like `A Father's Story' delve into ideas regarding religion and God, while `All the Time in the World' focuses more on relationships, both healthy and destructive, between a man and woman. `The Fat Girl' is probably, aside from `Killings', my favorite addition to this collection for it really dissects our inane desire to fit in and be a part of something even when that something is nothing we ourselves want to become. `Rose' is a tragic tale, one that takes a while to develop, but once you get about halfway through it really grabs you and begins to shake you ferociously until the very end. `Delivering' is one of the shortest stories here and it's one of the weakest for, while it tackles infidelity and broken homes, it does so very gingerly. `The Winter Father' and `A Father's Story' deal with the struggles a father especially goes through after the deterioration of a marriage, after the wife has left with the children and he has to fight for his relationship with his offspring. To me `A Father's Story' is by far the more moving, for it really exposes a father's love for his daughter and the fact that he would do anything for her, just to make her safe. In closing I'll say that each of these stories are powerful in their own way, some you'll love more than others but I'm almost pretty certain that you'll appreciate them all for what they are and what they are is tragic, real, raw and utterly fantastic!

Meaningful stories that might not be for everyone.:
Contemplative, introspective, sentimental, and sad stories, but a lot like life. Even in the stories I wasn't too crazy about ("Delivering," "A Father's Story") there is something worth getting. Often, Dubus writes about a particular incident that has changed the protagonist of each story. I always came away with some insight, which is something I can't say about many short stories I've read. The author paints a detailed picture of what life is like for a particular person who has undergone a particular change in life. That alone says quite a bit. Like many short-story compendiums, this may not be a breeze to read because starting each story is like picking up a different novel from the same author. You've got to give yourself time to get into it. Most likely, though, you won't regret it. Also recommended: "The October Country" by Ray Bradbury.

Effortlessly captivating, rarely is writing this raw and real...:
I was motivated to read this collection solely on the power behind Todd Fields fantastic film `In The Bedroom' which hails it's magnificent plot from the short story `Killings'. `Killings' subsequently opens this collection strong, its dark underlining chaos perfectly laced subtly between pure and simple fear of tragedy. There comes along only once in many years a piece of literature so subtle yet so real and raw that it speaks to you, and this short story as well as the movie that it inspired truly manage to capture the essence of what makes quality entertainment. `Killings', which only covers the final frames of the film (which serves as further proof that the movie itself is a work of genius), may serve as the best of the collection, but there are plenty of other treats to be found in the six other offerings. `The Winter Father' is the first of two stories dealing with a fathers desire to keep his relationship with his children alive after his marriage falls to pieces. This is the weaker of the two, a bit dry and unfulfilling as far as story wise. It just seems to carry on with no real objective. `Rose' on the other hand has quite a powerful objective, and that is to evoke heartbreak and compassion for this woman's horrific story of abuse and broken trust. As our narrator retells a story of a woman whom he meets in a bar we are brought into her world slowly but surely. I will admit that in the beginning I was a bit turned off, for I was afraid it would take me no where yet again, but as the meat of the story began to unfold I found myself glued to each passing page. As Rose recounts her story of a tortured marriage, an abusive and horrific man and her struggle to save her children from this monster the reader can do nothing but hope and pray everything turns out better in the end. `The Fat Girl' is actually my favorite story here, aside from `Killings'. It just explores the desire to belong so perfectly, taking a problem (or supposed problem) that every girl goes through and delves into the inner demons so brilliantly that you'd swear Andre Dubus himself were a woman who struggled with weight growing up. The story so elegantly yet bluntly uncovers that inane desire to belong to something that in the end causes us to become the one thing we never wanted to be. I'm not too fond of `Delivering'; it just fails to richly examine infidelity and the broken home. It's not bad per say, and it's short so it's an easy read, just not an ultimately satisfying one. `A Father's Story' on the other hand is very satisfying and is one of the best offerings here. As it delves into the struggle of a father to make an impact on his daughter's life, and that willingness to do any and everything to protect her, it really grabs your heartstrings and plays the saddest of sad songs. Dubus delicately weaves us a story of a man who has to make a decision, right or wrong, which ultimately will change his daughter's life forever. It's not the easiest decision to make, but in the end you understand fully why it was made. The final story, while decent, is not as gripping or as satisfying as some of the other stories. `All the Time in the World' delves into relationships of a different nature, those of a man and woman, romantic, destructive, healthy and problematic. It does a decent job at rendering feeling and justification in the eyes and actions of those who have difficulty making a commitment; who seem determined to find love but continue to propel it away, but it ends on a note the reader will appreciate. This collection, while not quote-unquote perfect, delivers so much in its small body that it's well worth the time spent to uncover the riches within. Andre Dubus was such a wonderfully talented author, and reading his work is nothing short of a privilege!