The four linked novellas in Andre Dubus, III's Dirty Love (W.W. Norton & Company) explore the poignant interior lives of small-town characters who are usually unseen and unknown. Dubus says his characters are striving -- like us all --to live "loving and authentic lives," despite the looming loneliness of their blue-collar surrounds. The author talks about the pathos of these linked portraits, and his effort to imbue his writing with a subtle hopefulness.
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