Townie: A Memoir

Townie - A Memoir

First edition
Author	Andre Dubus III
Subject	Memoir
Publisher	W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date	2011
Publication place	United States
Preceded by	The Garden of Last Days (2008)
Followed by	Dirty Love (2013)

Townie – A Memoir is a 2011 memoir by American novelist and short story writer Andre Dubus III. It details Dubus' childhood in Haverhill, Massachusetts and his frequently turbulent relationship with his father Andre Dubus II.

Summary

Dubus writes about growing up in Haverhill, Massachusetts in the 1970s after his parents divorced. Dubus and his three siblings spent much of their time alone while their mother worked to support the family. Dubus describes his years as a boxer, how it saved his life, and led him to writing.

Characters

The main characters are his family and friends. He grew up with three siblings.

Reception

Writing for The Guardian, William Skidelsky described Townie as "a mesmerising work, one of the best accounts I've encountered of violence and its causes". In its review, the New York Times complemented Dubus for "not leaning on easy redemption" in the story's conclusion and avoiding "the usual signifiers of today’s ’70s Nostalgia Industrial Complex, no peace-sign key chains or smiley-face T-shirts, none of the goofy stoners and ditsy girls in tube tops that American television viewers have become accustomed to".