I was on a mini-trip to meet up with friends in southern Indiana late last week, so I am delayed posting Sue Dittmar’s note about hearing Andre Dubus III reading at Left Bank.  She says the attendance was sparse, but perhaps a lot of other folks were also on vacation or just stayed home to keep cool. Anyway, thanks Sue for this note!

 By Sue K. Dittmar:

     On Tuesday (15 July) I spent a wonderful evening with Andre Dubus III. He appeared at Left Bank Books talking about his new book, “The Garden of Last Days.” You might remember him as the author of “The House of Sand and Fog.” I had been looking forward to this visit ever since the Left Bank Books calendar came out. I have wondered for a long time about the correct way to say his last name. Does he say it the French way or has it been Americanized? Well, I still don’t have an answer. Mr. Dubus was comfortable using the French pronunciation Du-boo. But also in the New England area, all the letters are said so it sounds like Doos-bus. I guess where you live is how you say it. I will stick with the French.

     I was disappointed in the fact not a lot of people attended the reading and signing. This is a New York Times best-selling author and he was an Oprah pick! Well, people missed a great evening. Andre Dubus started out with reading from two different places in his novel. A reading done by the author is one of my favorite parts of a signing. The tone, flavor or feel of what the author is trying to convey to their audience is discovered. It helps me when I read the book on my own. I find myself thinking back to what the author said and I enjoy the experience even more. 

     After the reading, questions from the audience were answered. There was a question about how Dubus deals with criticism.  “Garden of Last Days” might be described as a 9/11 novel but he thinks it is much more than that. We meet a young mother, April struggling with raising her daughter while working in a strip club. One of her clients is on his way to New York and wants to visit the club and April one more time.  Dubus talked about the perception of empathy and sympathy. This was in response to what several critics had written about Dubus possibly having sympathy for the terrorists. I can see where this came from. Dubus had done over six months of research on Islam and its practices. He also did historical research on Saudi Arabia. Also Dubus read the Koran several times. When he was done with all the research, the interviews started. Dubus tried to make these men human and that is where the criticisms came in. I have to read the novel and make up my own mind with empathy and sympathy.

     There are talks about this novel being made into a movie. I was happy with what Hollywood did with “House of Sand and Fog” so I hope they approach “Garden” with the same style. I look forward to it.

Till the next author . . . .