Dubus, Andre III 1959-

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DUBUS, Andre III 1959-

PERSONAL: Born September 11, 1959, in Oceanside, CA; son of Andre II (a fiction writer and educator) and Patricia (a social worker; maiden name, Lowe) Dubus; married Fontaine Dollas (a dancer), June 25, 1989. Education: Bradford College, A.A., 1979; University of Texas at Austin, B.A. (sociology), 1981; attended Vermont College. Politics: Liberal Democrat. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—Newburyport, MA. Agent— Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency, 788 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Fiction writer. Boulder Community Treatment Center, Boulder, CO, counselor, 1982-83; worked variously as a bartender, bounty hunter, prison counselor, and actor, c. 1980s; carpenter, 1988—. Part-time writing instructor at Emerson College, Boston, MA.

MEMBER: International Sociology Honor Society, Authors Guild, Authors League, Alpha Kappa Delta.

AWARDS, HONORS: National Magazine Award for Fiction, 1985; American Library Association Notable Book selection, and finalist for National Book Award, Los Angeles Times book award, L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award, and Booksense Book of the Year award, all 2000, all for House of Sand and Fog.

WRITINGS:

The Cage Keeper and Other Stories, Dutton (New York, NY), 1989.

House of Sand and Fog, Norton (New York, NY), 1999.

Bluesman, Norton (New York, NY), 2001.

Contributor of stories and reviews to periodicals, including Playboy, Crazyhorse Quarterly, and Crescent Review.

House of Sand and Fog has been translated into over twenty-two languages.

ADAPTATIONS: House of Sand and Fog was adapted as a motion picture directed by Vadim Perelman, Dreamworks, 2003. The novel was also adapted as an audiobook read by Dubus and his wife, Fontaine Dubus, HarperAudio, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Andre Dubus III is the son of the late famed short-fiction writer of the same name. Dubus III has also had success with the short-story form, but he is perhaps best known for his acclaimed 2000 novel, House of Sand and Fog. House of Sand and Fog—which took Dubus four years to write and which was turned down by over twenty publishers before being accepted by Norton—follows the collision course of an ex-Iranian colonel named Behrani and Kathy Nicolo, a young former drug addict whose modest bungalow Behrani purchases during a bank foreclosure auction. Complicating the plot is one of the officers who evicts Kathy, who then starts dating her and helping her fight to get her house back. Although the novel did well after publication, moving to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, it became a publishing phenomenon after being chosen by talk show personality Oprah Winfrey as an Oprah Book Club selection.

Reviewers of House of Sand and Fog had unqualified praise for Dubus's debut novel. Donna Seaman, writing in Booklist, noted that the book's characters "are headed for a resolution of stunningly tragic dimensions." Liz Keuffer, discussing House of Sand and Fog for BookReporter, praised the novel as well, concluding that Dubus "chronicles the clash of cultures between the Americans and the Iranians while keeping the humanity of everyone involved at the forefront." Reflecting also on the culture clash that is at the core of Dubus's novel, Joanna Burkhardt commented in Library Journal that "the frustration and anger are visceral, the tension intense." House of Sand and Fog "captures the hope, confusion, resolve, and uncertainty" of a cast of compelling characters.

Dubus told CA: "Every one of us needs to express himself in some way. I feel very fortunate that creative writing has tapped me on the shoulder."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 1999, Donna Seaman, review of House of Sand and Fog, p. 961.

Library Journal, January, 1989, Starr E. Smith, review of The Cage Keeper and Other Stories, p. 101; May 15, 1993, Charles Michaud, review of Bluesman, p. 96; March 1, 1999, Reba Leiding, review of House of Sand and Fog, p. 108; May 1, 2001, Joanna Burkhardt, review of House of Sand and Fog, p. 145.

Macclean's, May 14, 2001, "House That Oprah Built," p. 53.

New York Times Book Review, February 5, 1989, Deborah Solomon, review of The Cage Keeper and Other Stories, p. 24; April 25, 1999, Bill Sharp, review of House of Sand and Fog, p. 104.

People, March 12, 2001, "Blood Knot: Bestselling Novelist Andre Dubus III Knew One Thing Growing Up—He Wouldn't Be a Writer Like His Father," p. 75.

Publishers Weekly, October 21, 1988, review of The Cage Keeper and Other Stories, p. 48; November 1, 1999, review of House of Sand and Fog, p. 45.

Times Literary Supplement, April 7, 2000, Henry Hitchings, review of House of Sand and Fog, p. 28.