John Dufresne Livres

Exploring themes of faith, disappointment, and the passage of time, the narrative weaves together the lives of diverse characters. A Louisiana farmer grapples with the significance of faith after witnessing Christ's image, while a Maine spinster seizes an opportunity to assist another woman in overcoming her disappointments. The title story delves into a science teacher's struggles as his modest aspirations and haunting memories gradually wear away at his life, akin to water shaping stone.

John Dufresne's stories explore the intertwining of everyday life with unexpected challenges and opportunities. Characters face moral dilemmas, such as a woman torn between a marriage proposal and an affair, and a doctor grappling with his dark past. The narrative features young brothers seeking a non-existent foster home and a man whose shocking confession leads to his mysterious death. Blending elements of truth and deception, Dufresne captures the enchantment found within the ordinary, drawing comparisons to literary greats like Faulkner and Irving.

"This is the most practical, hard-nosed, generous, direct, and useful guide to writing fiction." ―Brad Watson Finally, a truly creative―and hilarious―guide to creative writing, full of encouragement and sound advice. Provocative and reassuring, nurturing and wise, The Lie That Tells a Truth is essential to writers in general, fiction writers in particular, beginning writers, serious writers, and anyone facing a blank page. John Dufresne, teacher and the acclaimed author of Love Warps the Mind a Little and Deep in the Shade of Paradise , demystifies the writing process. Drawing upon the wisdom of literature's great craftsmen, Dufresne's lucid essays and diverse exercises initiate the reader into the tools, processes, and techniques of writing: inventing compelling characters, developing a voice, creating a sense of place, editing your own words. Where do great ideas come from? How do we recognize them? How can language capture them? In his signature comic voice, Dufresne answers these questions and more in chapters such as "Writing Around the Block," "Plottery," and "The Art of Abbreviation." Dufresne demystifies the writing process, showing that while the idea of writing may be overwhelming, the act of writing is simplicity itself.

It's Christmas Eve in Eden, Florida, and Wylie 'Coyote' Melville, professional therapist and hobbyist forensic consultant, is called to the scene of a horrific crime at a quiet suburban address. Wylie has enough on his plate as it is, his father is slipping deeper into the clutches of Alzheimer's, his new kitten Django is wreaking havoc with the soft furnishings and a homeless man has taken up residence on his front lawn. But a local family has been found brutally slain in their own home, and Wylie's friend Detective Sergeant Carlos O'Brien wants him to use his rare ability to 'read minds', to see the clues.So he starts his own haphazard investigation, but with suspicions of mob involvement and the police strangely keen to shut down Wylie's amateur operation, he might be biting off more than he can chew.No Regrets, Coyote is a wild ride to the dark heart of the Florida underworld. For fans of Christopher Brookmyre, Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, and introduces a brilliantly original detective with the crime scene skills of Sherlock Holmes and the personal life of Jeff 'the Dude' Lebowski.

A 40-year-old man who always wanted to be a writer finally takes the plunge. He leaves his wife and home, and moves in with his mistress, taking only his typewriter. Unfortunately, she is not much of a muse, the rejection letters pile up, on top of which she develops cancer. A tragicomedy. By the author of Louisiana Power & Light.

Set in the unique Louisiana swamp precinct of Shiver-de-Freeze, the story unfolds around Grisham Loudermilk's wedding to Ariane Thevenot at the family's ancestral home, Paradise. Complications arise as Grisham's cousin Adlai becomes infatuated with the bride-to-be, while his father battles Alzheimer's and a priest grapples with forbidden feelings. The narrative intertwines themes of love, memory, and imagination, featuring a vibrant cast, including conjoined twins and unexpected arrivals, all captured in Dufresne's signature tragic-comic style.

A smart and funny guide to writing fiction with lively infographics to help aspiring writers visualise storytelling techniques.

Set in the quirky town of Requiem, Massachusetts, the story follows Johnny as he navigates his dysfunctional family dynamics. With a mother who drives in the breakdown lane, a father living a secretive life down South, and a little sister, Audrey, who has her own unusual habits, Johnny is determined to rescue his family from their chaos. The narrative blends humor and heartache, capturing the struggles of a young boy trying to hold his family together amidst their eccentricities.

Wylie 'Coyote' Melville - burnt-out professional therapist and hobbyist forensic consultant - needs a break. South Florida might be home, but it's also home to bad memories and local gangsters bearing grudges. So Wylie and his ace poker-playing best friend Bay Lettique head to the tawdry glitz of Las Vegas to lie low for a while. But when Wylie and Bay see a woman fall from the balcony of her hotel on the Strip, their low-profile Vegas vacation soon turns into a murder investigation. With the powers-that-be keen to cover up all trace of the woman's death, Wylie starts to follow a trail that leads him across the vast and lawless deserts of redneck Nevada and deep into the heart of a human trafficking conspiracy. A crime caper filled with Dufresne's trademark black humour, I Don't Like Where This is Going continues the story of Wylie's haphazard investigations into America's bankrupt political system, where power and influence are on sale and the corrupt prey on the innocent.

An engaging and frank guide to writing the very short story, full of sound advice, exemplary models and provocative exercises.