The Open Road Blog

Your favorite show was on television. You had to walk the dog. You read the Cliff's Notes (or the review in the New York Times) and got the gist. And somehow, you never managed to actually read the book.

But when someone asks you about Bestseller X or Classic Novel Y at a dinner party, you fumble your way through the conversation and nod knowingly, right?

We consider ourselves smart, moderately well read folks. We’ve all got books that we meant to read—but just haven't gotten around to yet. We’ve got the best of intentions, but somehow there are ...

In celebration of Veterans Day, we honor Open Road Media authors and their families who spent time in the service.

Before World War II began, James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and the newly published To the End of the War, served in the U.S. Army in Hawaii. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, which Jones witnessed, he was sent to Guadalcanal, site of some of the deadliest jungle fighting of the Pacific Theater. He distinguished himself in battle, at one point killing an enemy soldier barehanded, and was awarded a bronze star for his bravery. ...

No need to be entering the classroom yourself to stock up on great literature! Here's our back to school sale for grown-ups. These titles are $3.99 and up through September 13. Whether you like short stories, memoirs, suspense, experimental fiction, or more, we've got a title for you! (And if you are looking for our children's sale, here it is!)

Georgia Boy by Erskine Caldwell

Fourteen stories that follow a young boy coming of age in a dysfunctional family in the rural South. Meet William Stroop, a young son of the South whose charming voice and mordant observations of family and culture ...

Ever wondered what your favorite authors did to pay the bills before they made it big? In honor of Labor Day, we asked several Open Road authors about the odd jobs they took to make ends meet as they struggled to learn their craft. So which crime writer got fired from a movie theater? Who worked for the railroads? And who who sold blood every month to earn extra cash? The answers will definitely surprise you!

Today we bring you the final installment of our Critical Symposium on the importance of Andre Dubus. In a new essay, Edward J. Delaney, a writer and filmmaker, offers a moving portrait of the great writer in his later years. Delaney produced an award-winning film about Dubus called The Times Were Never So Bad. Click here to see a preview of the film, which is available for purchase through Amazon. Delaney's writing has appeared in The Atlantic and other magazines. He is the author of the forthcoming novel Broken Irish. Learn more about him and his work ...

Today we are pleased to introduce the second part of our Critical Symposium on Andre Dubus. For this installment we interviewed Richard Ravin, another one of Dubus's former students.  In this special interview Ravin, who works in media, provides an intimate look at Dubus as a teacher and craftsman. To see more of Ravin's work about Dubus please read his essay on Dubus that appeared in Salon in 1999.

The Working Life of Andre Dubus

An Interview with Richard Ravin

On Dubus’s working methods

Andre, as I recall, wrote in long hand, and on typewriter after that. One of ...

Earlier this year Open Road debuted a new feature on its blog called the Critical Symposium. Our first symposium introduced three essays by critics discussing Stanley Elkin's status as a Jewish American writer. Today marks the 75th year since the birth of Andre Dubus and, as a special tribute, we are initiating a new Critical Symposium about the enduring significance of his work. Our first installment in this series is an essay by the writer Thomas E. Kennedy, who met Dubus in 1983 while earning his MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Kennedy is the author of numerous ...

Independence Day is just around the corner, so this week we’ve decided to honor the distinguished author and veteran Andre Dubus (1936-1999). From 1958 to 1964 Dubus served in the United States Marine Corps as a lieutenant and captain. The military’s emphasis on honor and service would have a profound influence on Dubus throughout his entire adult life and provide material for his first and only novel: The Lieutenant.  

In addition to The Lieutenant, Dubus authored eight collections of short stories, including Selected Stories, published just before he was given the prestigious MacArthur award. Dubus is ...

Open Road Media wishes you a wonderful Father's Day weekend.

To celebrate, we’ve assembled four original videos featuring insightful commentary about growing up with literary fathers from the sons and daughters of Andre Dubus, Stanley Elkin, William Styron, Terry Southern, John Gardner, and James Jones. Catch glimpses of these great twentieth century literary giants through the eyes of their children, listen to tales of their filial devotion and love, and discover what these men were like in their ordinary lives.

Literary Fathers: Gardner, Elkin, Southern, Styron

Literary Fathers: James Jones and Andre Dubus

 ...

So many of the published voices here at Open Road are those of consummate "writer's writers," whose processes and methods have long been the stuff of interviews, textbooks, and course reading lists.

To celebrate those voices, watch this gathering of a handful of our writers—each with an utterly distinct style and writing life. We are honored to publish the ebooks of writers like Pat Conroy, Andre Dubus, Stanley Elkin, John Gardner, Josephine Hart, Susan Minot, and William Styron.

We present masters of prose who have gone digital—and remained, most assuredly, classic.

Open Road Integrated Media is digitally publishing nine titles from the backlist of acclaimed writer Andre Dubus.

Andre Dubus (1936–1999) is considered one of the greatest American short story writers of the twentieth century. His collections of short fiction, which include Adultery & Other Choices (1977), The Times Are Never So Bad (1983), and The Last Worthless Evening (1986), are notable for their spare prose and illuminative, albeit subtle, insights into the human heart. He is often compared to Anton Chekhov and revered as a “writer’s writer.”

The Open Road ebook editions, on sale November 23, are available wherever ebooks are ...