Novelist Andre Dubus III will bring his trenchant, unpretentious prose to the Odyssey Bookshop this Thursday. Dubus' last book, "The House of Sand and Fog," was shortlisted for the National Book Award, was selected by Oprah Winfrey for her Book Club and sold more than 1.5 million copies nationwide.

Dubus is touring to support Vintage Book's reissue of his first novel, "Bluesman," first published in 1993 but out of print for a few years.

"Bluesman" is a soulful, poignant evocation of Vietnam-era America and the coming-of-age of Massachusetts teenager Leo Suther. Leo falls into an intense romance with his long-time crush Allie Donovan, but the going gets rough when Allie's conservative father challenges Leo's attitudes about the Vietnam War.

This conflict is juxtaposed with Leo's growing fascination with American blues music, a form of expression which he has picked up from his otherwise distant father.