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Polly Dugan

Goodreads Author

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http://www.pollydugan.com

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pollydugan

Genre

Fiction

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November 2008

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Polly Dugan's writing captures a moment in time and follows it as the afterward unfolds. Her predominantly Irish Catholic characters are challenged by their flaws, faith, morality, mortality and circumstances. Although animals often appear in her stories, she does not write animal stories.

Polly Dugan is a graduate of Dickinson College, and a four-time attendee of the Tin House Writers Workshop where she worked with Steve Almond, Elissa Schappell, Meg Storey and Joy Williams. Her stories have appeared in Line Zero and Narrative and received Honorable Mention recognition in Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers August 2009.

She lives in Portland, Oregon with her hu Follow Polly on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/PollyDuganAu...

Polly Dugan's writing captures a moment in time and follows it as the afterward unfolds. Her predominantly Irish Catholic characters are challenged by their flaws, faith, morality, mortality and circumstances. Although animals often appear in her stories, she does not write animal stories.

Polly Dugan is a graduate of Dickinson College, and a four-time attendee of the Tin House Writers Workshop where she worked with Steve Almond, Elissa Schappell, Meg Storey and Joy Williams. Her stories have appeared in Line Zero and Narrative and received Honorable Mention recognition in Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers August 2009.

She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, two sons, two black Labrador Retrievers and a brown tabby cat. Her collection of ten linked stories, SO MUCH A PART OF YOU, was published by Little, Brown in 2014. In 2015 Little, Brown published her novel, THE SWEETHEART DEAL, in which a confirmed bachelor is forced to honor a drunken pact made twelve years earlier to marry his best friend’s wife if he dies.

About SO MUCH A PART OF YOU:

From the Depression to the present, the emotional and moral burdens of alcoholism, abortion, infidelity, and the losses of friends, parents and children are seamlessly woven together in Dugan's stark and powerful writing. The ten linked stories in So Much a Part of You revolve around Anna Riley and Anne Cavanaugh, two women with a common lover, Peter Herring. While following the lives of Anna and Anne, and revisiting familiar characters, friendships are tested and family secrets are exposed, and the ripple effects of their emotional choices poignantly rise to the surface.

Her new novel, THE HOUSE OF CAVANAUGH, revisits a family who appear in five stories in SO MUCH A PART OF YOU, and will be published by Sibylline Press in October 2025.

In the novel, 50 years after an affair between Joan Cavanaugh and Peter Hutchinson in New York, and 25 years after Joan's death, the paternity of her middle daughter is revealed and two best friends in Portland discover they share a sister.
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Average rating: 3.47 · 1,082 ratings · 213 reviews · 8 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Sweetheart Deal 3.42 avg rating — 792 ratings — published 2015 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	So Much a Part of You 3.39 avg rating — 224 ratings — published 2014 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The House of Cavanaugh: A Novel 4.23 avg rating — 65 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wir zwei und der Himmel dazwischen: Roman really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	So much a part of you; stories 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La femme de mon ami 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le femme de mon ami 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	So Much a Part of You 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Polly Dugan rated a book it was amazing The House of Cavanaugh: A Novel by Polly Dugan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 28, 2026 05:28PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The House of Cavanaugh by Polly Dugan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The House of Cavanaugh by Polly Dugan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Polly Dugan entered a giveaway The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Polly Dugan rated a book it was amazing One Bad Mother: A Mother's Search for Meaning in the Police Academy by Megan Williams	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Polly Dugan is now following Erin Van Rheenen Author of Moon Living Abroad in Costa Rica
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Polly Dugan rated a book it was amazing More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Anna Quindlen is one of my favorite writers and has long been an influence on my own writing. In "More Than Enough" she portrays marriage, deep friendship, complicated family dynamics and the heartbreak of years of infertility in emotional, honest, h ...more
Nov 13, 2025 03:23PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Polly Dugan rated a book it was amazing God and Sex by Jon Raymond	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This novel is extraordinary. I couldn't put it down and finished it in two days. I know Raymond considers it an homage to Graham Greene's "The End of the Affair," which I haven't read, but it also reminded me of Paul Auster's brilliant work, of which ...more
Oct 01, 2025 11:03AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of God and Sex by Jon Raymond. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — God and Sex by Jon Raymond <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Polly Dugan and 16 other people liked Peter Rock's review of God and Sex: ""His maturity was galling. He was so capacious, so deep. Was he telling me the truth? I wondered. I wasn't sure. This might be yet another punishment he'd devised. He was roasting me in the fire of his kindness, branding me with his red-hot poker of " Read more of this review »
Sep 23, 2025 03:46PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of God and Sex by Jon Raymond. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — God and Sex by Jon Raymond <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Polly Dugan rated a book it was amazing You'll Forget This Ever Happened by Laura L. Engel (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Story of a Lifetime of Survival Laura is an extraordinary human, and mother, demonstrated by her resilience in both living this story and then writing about it and sharing it with the world. An unwavering testament to the human spirit.
Sep 02, 2025 11:47AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of You'll Forget This Ever Happened by Laura L. Engel. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — You'll Forget This Ever Happened by Laura L. Engel <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Polly Dugan rated a book it was amazing Collateral Stardust: Chasing Warren Beatty and Other Foolish Things by Nikki Nash (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
While the Hollywood milieu and Nash's proximity to famous entertainers, consistently portrayed as very real, ordinary people, who happen to be globally recognizable in name and face, makes for a fascinating who's who, what makes this memoir extraordi ...more
Jul 31, 2025 12:57PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Collateral Stardust by Nikki Nash. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Collateral Stardust by Nikki Nash <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Polly Dugan’s Followers (36)

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Polly Dugan

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