Bluesman Audiobook By Andre Dubus III cover art

Bluesman

A Novel

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Bluesman

By: Andre Dubus III
Narrated by: Andre Dubus
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It is the summer of 1967 and Leo Suther is about to turn 18. This is the summer that everyone has something to teach Leo. His father warns him that "life can turn on a dime." Allie, his girlfriend, wants to teach him about love. Her father, the local communist and civil rights organizer, lectures him on politics and carpentry. And Ryder, a family friend, wants to show Leo the magic of the harmonica - harp of the blues.

However, when Leo's life threatens to come unglued, it is his mother's wisdom he turns to. Though she died before Leo was five, her voice lives on in her diaries and poems, testifying to the strength of her love for her husband and son - a love that can still, years later, offer consolation.

©1993 Andre Dubus III (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction
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I had avoided Bluesman for years because it was 1) the last Andre Dubus III novel I had left to read, and 2) I haven been been by the sophomore slump numerous times by beloved authors. But finally, I bit the bullet and can say I'm glad I did. Though rough around the edges, Bluesman is as emotionally evoking and honest as the rest of Dubus' work.

No Sophomore Slump

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I almost didn’t finish this book because the beginning seemed so slow but as the story built to the conclusion, i could not stop listening. A heartbreaking sweet story of boys becoming men before entering the Viet Nam war.

Excellent perspective of family and war

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‘67, Vietnam, cultural tensions…. A source of bittersweet nostalgia for men of a certain age.

Need to read more by this author.

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I like the verisimilitude and honest portrayal of the era and the vicissitudes of youth.

I like the verisimilitude and how the era is honestly portrayed.

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This book is filled with characters for whom you care. They quietly populate a Connecticut River mill town where life flows by like the river water. It's always changing, always interesting if you look closely enough. Leo is 17 when he meets up with Allie who opens her heart and body to him. The resulting adventure is alternately exuberant, passionate, evocative, and searing. My sense is that author Dubus wrote this when he was younger, and the manuscript spent many years in the bottom drawer before being resurrected. The story takes place in less that a year, but the engagement lasts forever. A thoughtful and powerful read.

Quiet Slice of Life

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