Advance Notice. Andre Dubus III to present Townie at Book Soup.

"“Townie” is a better, harder book than anything the younger Mr. Dubus has yet written; it pays off on every bet that’s been placed on him. It’s a sleek muscle car of a memoir that — until it loses traction in clichés about redemption at its very end — growls like an amalgam of the best work by Richard Price, Stephen King, Ron Kovic, Breece D’J Pancake and Dennis Lehane, set to the desolate thumping of Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” It could become, and I mean this fondly, one hell of a Ben Affleck movie." How's that for an endorsement? Dwight Garner's words from the New York Times.

Between my Irish heritage, my college visits to BU to see my best friend, and my two trips to Lowell, Mass. in the summer of 2009 to see my boyfriend when he was working on The Fighter, I have a major soft spot for Beantown (and its surroundings). I also love a good memoir.

Author Andre Dubus III will be at Book Soup next week to present and sign Townie. I'd order it on Amazon right now if I wasn't so interested in what he'll have to say (and I really want a signed copy).

March 14 at 7:00 p.m. event free. book is $25.95.

Book Soup is located at 8818 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Info: booksoup.com, (310) 659-3110.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Jake Guevara / The New York Times