Dubus's Bluesman (1969) is a coming-ofage novel set in the summer of 1967 when Leo Suther is about to turn eighteen.

Everyone—father, girlfriend, her father— has something to teach Leo. Important instruction comes from Ryder, a family friend, who wants to show Leo the magic of the blues harp, the harmonica. But perhaps the most important instruction comes from his mother's poems and diaries, her voice coming to him over the thirteen years since her death, a crucial testimony of her love for Leo. Dubus's second book was The Cage Keeper and Other Stories (1989).