Townie: A Memoir

Dubus, author of House of Sand and Fog, opens his memoir when he's 16, chasing his father through a forest. Having never run more than two miles in his life, Dubus runs 10 that day, in his sister's shoes, two sizes too small, which leave his 10 toes "split open like sausages over a fire." It's a dramatic, moving moment that sets the stage for a story of the author's impoverished, brutal childhood. In a neighborhood where "kids roamed the neighborhood like dogs," Dubus is faced with either giving in or getting out. His reading is fluid and convincing, adding an intimacy to the account, making the listening especially cathartic. A Norton hardcover. (Mar.)