ANDRE DUBUS: the moral sensibility and the human condition.

Andre Dubus (pronounced “Da-buse”) (August 11, 1936 - February 24, 1999) is perhaps one of the least known of modern Catholic authors, yet one whose work many are unknowingly familiar with. Two films have been based upon and inspired by his short stories and one, IN THE BEDROOM (2001 starring Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek and Marissa Tomei), was nominated for five Academy Awards in 2001. He is often confused with his author son, Andre Dubus III, whose novel, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, was also made into a motion picture starring Ben Kingsley. WE DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (2004 starring Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Watts and Laura Dern) an examination of love, adultery and marriage and is based on the short stories by Dubus, WE DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE and ADULTERY.
Some biographical information is necessary to understand this complex author who is not neatly or easily categorized. I call him a “Catholic” author as many of his stories deal with issues easily recognizable to Catholics, but also because his Catholic sensibility and upbringing informs his view of life and his writing. On the other hand, many Catholics might shy away from his often graphic and brutal realism that can utilize violence and language that some would consider crude.
Dubus was born and raised in Louisiana and was educated by the Christian Brothers, who emphasized literature and writing. Following graduation from McNeese College he spent six years in the United States Marine Corps. He graduated from the University of Iowa’s writing program and later moved to Massachusetts. In 1986 he was severely injured as he stopped to help two stranded motorists when he was struck by an oncoming car as he pushed a mother and her son to safety. The son survived but Dubus eventually lost his left leg through amputation and the use of his right leg. His third wife eventually left him after this accident and took their two daughters with her. He sank into a depressed state but was buoyed by fellow authors and friends Kurt Vonnegut and John Updike conducting a benefit to raise money for his growing medical bills. In 1999 he died from a heart attack and is buried in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
There is a strong masculine aspect to Dubus’ writing characterized by running, weight-lifting, alcohol, women and the presence of domestic and other forms of violence. He did not shy away from these aspects of life but embraced them and used them in an effort to reveal more of the complexities of human nature, suffering and tragedy, and the subtle and oftentimes redemptive aspects of life. His writing does not indulge in these seamier sides of the nature of things but always is working towards illumination of the human heart and the human condition.
While I have not been able to find precise information about the status of Dubus’ faith in his later life, his stories seem to indicate that he was, at least, at times, a daily Mass attendee and communicant. Several of his stories deal with specific “religious” themes, but more importantly they lead to moments that reveal the heart of the human condition and presence of the scared. Some of his essays reveal aspects of faith. One of his most amusing and insightful essays is OUT LIKE A LAMB from his collection of essays entitled BROKEN VESSELS. Without giving away the progression of the story, I will categorically state that this is possibly the most original and insightful meditation I have ever heard or read on the Christ, the Good Shepherd.
In the final essay from BROKEN VESSELS titled BROKEN VESSELS, Dubus moves in this meditation from the sacrificial and “sacramental” love of US Marines in combat to the damage to his daughters who suffered more from his catastrophic accident than he did, to a reconciliation and recognition that his “crippling” has become a means of revelation of God’s truth and His coming to us in the Eucharist. His view, is essentially a sacramental view of life that sees beyond the appearances, beyond the violence and suffering, to the essence of the human heart, in its sinfulness, pain and sorrow, to a redemptive reality beyond the physical. As Tobias Wolff indicates in his introduction to this collection of essays, Dubus’ writing is “intensely compassionate and morally responsible” who “is most interested in the complexities of human intimacy” and “writes well about love…in whatever form it takes”.
In THE KILLING, which was the basis for the film, IN THE BEDROOM, Dubus examines the darker aspects of the human heart as parents seek revenge for the loss of their child by an unrepentant killer.
THE DARK MEN is a compassionate look at the issue of a heroic gay man in the military, written long before it became a political issue in the early ‘90s.
Andre Dubus’ stories run the gamut of themes and topics that range anywhere from abortion, to a dying laicized priest, to the heroic aspects of minor league baseball players, adultery, adultery, love and sacrifice. Moral complexity is at the heart of most of them, and while the outcome may not always be what one who considers themselves to be morally righteous would agree with, the examination of these complexities cannot but help engender greater understanding and compassion.
List of some of his more popular works:
Selected Stories
Dancing After Hours: StoriesWe Don't Live Here Anymore: Three Novellas
We Don't Live Here Anymore: Three Novellas