Title: Selected Stories

Author: Andre Dubus

Summary: For me, summer is a great time to read short story collections: You can pick up a book, read a bit, and then put it down and enjoy the sunshine. That said, I’m not a fluffy ‘beach read’ person – I like intense, realistic fiction. Selected Stories by Andre Dubus fits the bill perfectly. The name might be familiar to you – but this is not a collection by the celebrated author of The House of Sand and Fog, but instead by his equally-celebrated, if lesser known, father.

The most famous story in this book is Killings, which became a movie called In the Bedroom. Most of the stories are set just outside of Boston, and describe the escalation of small (and sometimes petty) dramas into something more profound, from a woman being stalked by her ex-husband, a cadet going through a brutal basic training exercise, a newlywed rejecting her perfect life by gorging on candy, and a devout young man discovering the joys – and limits – of physical affection.

Who will like this book?: Readers of short stories. Fans of regional fiction set in New England.

If you like this, try this: The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III. Tooth and Claw, a collection by another American short story master, T.C. Boyle.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian