“Duff Brenna is an American treasure.”
—The Bloomsbury Review

Welcome...

And thanks for dropping by. Feel free to linger.

If you’ve just discovered Duff, then hang on to your socks! Duff is an engrossing storyteller. He delivers prose in a style that’s simple yet lyrical. His stories are unsentimental, gut-wrenchingly vernacular, graceful and transcendent, and literary — yet as down-to-earth as the wholesome smell of alfalfa in a meadow where dairy cows graze.

Duff’s truly a master of imagery and dialogue. Plus, his stories feature quite a gallery of gritty and glorious characters. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Duff Brenna displays a spectacular talent for crafting complex, believable characters.” How true.

Although Duff’s a soft-spoken man, many of his characters are loud and outrageous and use language salty enough to make an ex-sailor like me absolutely cringe. Okay, so I was a demure dental assistant too mortified to cuss and and swear during my tour of duty. That was nearly 30 years ago, and though I’m less demure now, certain salty words still make me cringe.

So, be forewarned: These characters, these stories are not for the prissy. They may horrify you at times, but they’ll keep you turning the pages. They’ll make you laugh and cry at the same time. And in the end, like all fine art, they illuminate and elevate the human condition.

But don’t take my word for it. Read the excerpts, the essays, the reviews, the interviews. Get to know the man behind the words. Then buy a book or two ... or ten. You can get Duff’s books through Amazon.com and other booksellers. See Books for details and bookseller links.

By the way, you may be able to see two of Duff’s works on the big screen before long. Two of his novels, The Book of Mamie and Too Cool, have been optioned by Jimmy Kaufman, a Canadian producer/director. Duff wrote the screenplay for The Book of Mamie, which Kaufman calls one of the finest scripts he’s ever read. He said that making Mamie into a movie would be the crowning of his career. So good luck to Jimmy and Duff. Their fans look forward to seeing those movies!

Please e-mail Duff with your questions, comments, suggestions, etc. related to his work. And please write to me if you find broken or outdated links, or other problems with this website. Thanks!

—Clare MacQueen
Editor and Webmaster

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