The Cage Keeper: And Other Stories
by Andre Dubus
Category: Fiction

Andre Dubus III's first collection of stunningly crafted short stories explores passion and betrayal, violent desperation, ambivalent love that hinges on hatred, and the quest for acceptance by those on the edge of society. "Duckling Girl" is a bold and unsentimental exploration of the psychology of abuse, while the title story, "The Cage Keeper, " is a hard-hitting tale of physical and emotional incarceration. Five other stories are equally gritty, tough, and emotionally gripping, for though Dubus creates a world that threatens to crush his characters both body and soul, he also reveals the profound dignity of their determination to endure.