"To view human suffering as an abstraction, as a statement about how plucky we all are, is to blow air through brass while the boys and girls march in parade off to war. Seeing the flesh as only a challenge to the spirit is as false as seeing the spirit as only a challenge to the flesh. "
Andre Dubus
A Catholic, Dubus was educated by the Christian Brothers before attending college and joining the Marines for six years. He married and had six children and taught at various universities in addition to writing to support his family.
On July 23, 1986, Andre stopped on a highway to help two disabled motorists, saving one's life. He was struck by an oncoming car. His left leg was amputated and his right leg shattered, leaving him in a wheelchair. A writer with many presitigious awards, Dubus went into a deep depression that kept him from writing for years. Eventually he broke through the depression and chronic pain to write two books of autobiographical essays and a collection of short stories. He told others that the accident renewed his Catholic faith and he achieved peace and acceptance as the years went on. He died in 1999.
His collections include: Separate Flights (1975), Adultery and Other Choices (1977), Finding a Girl in America (1980), The Times are Never So Bad (1983), Voices from the Moon (1984), The Last Worthless Evening (1986), Selected Stories (1988), Broken Vessels (1991), Dancing After Hours (1996), and Meditations from a Movable Chair (1998).
1 comment:
Interesting information. I think his son with the same name wrote House of Sand and Fog. I'll have to read some of his writings. Am interested in what he wrote after his accident. Thanks.
Post a Comment