The post-9/11 narrative has already become something of a cliché. What Andre Dubus III pulls off in the new-in-paperback The Garden of Last Days is something considerably more challenging: a look at the early days of September 2001 that’s informed by readers’ understanding of what is to come.
He follows several characters surrounding a Florida nightclub, mostly over the course of a single night. April, a single mother and a stripper, is forced to bring her young daughter to work one night when her regular babysitter is sick. Among her private-dance customers that night: Bassam, a man with a lot of cash and a mission to complete. Dubus attempts nothing specifically judgmental, nor does he exploit the tragedy that lurks around the periphery. He merely tells a wrenching story of what people do with their unhappiness and dissatisfaction, sometimes only vaguely understanding the consequences. Join the author this week for a reading and signing.
Andre Dubus III: The Garden of Last Days @ The King’s English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, 801-484-9100, Tuesday, June 16, 7 p.m. KingsEnglish.com
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