BROKEN VESSELS by Andre Dubus (David R....

BROKEN VESSELS by Andre Dubus (David R. Godine: $11.95; 195 pp.). Dubus writes about his past in these concise, well-focused essays. He recounts his failures at team sports, the experiences that solidified his beliefs in Catholicism and the U.S. Marine Corps code of honor, his failed marriages and his struggle to be an effective father. But the turning point in his life came when he stopped to help a stranded motorist: He was struck by another car and lost his left leg and much of the use of the right one. His clear, honest prose offers more insights into the questions surrounding male identity in contemporary America than all the jejune drum-banging of Robert Bly and his followers.