The Times Are Never So Bad: A Novella and Eight Short Stories

A classic collection that contains some of the author’s “most compelling and suspenseful” work—including ‘The Pretty Girl’ and ‘A Father’s Story’ (Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Times Book Review).

In his fourth collection, Andre Dubus revisits his central themes of infidelity and fallibility, exploring the minds of his characters with unflinching honesty and unfailing compassion. Set in the New England landscape, and populated by the complex, damaged individuals he has come to claim as his own, these stories are ultimately characterized by their extraordinary ordinariness. They are a reverent testament to the passion and sadness of humble lives.
 
Deeply moving and insightful, The Times Are Never So Bad is yet another masterful work by a writer whose Chekhovian sensibilities inform—yet never distract from—his own fully realized perspective.
 
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Andre Dubus including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.