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On the Invisible Palm of God
★★★★★ “Renders with grace and tenderness the often unconscious need and yearning a young person has for an authentic teacher... a beautiful and deeply moving memoir.” Andre Dubus III
In his undergraduate years, Joseph Hurka’s mentor was the writer Andre Dubus, a great, large spirit of a man, today considered a twentieth-century master of the short story. Dubus opened new artistic doors for the young Hurka; he sent his student on to the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, where Hurka started his career in earnest as a writer and teacher himself.
In 1986 Dubus, trying to help stranded motorists on a highway outside Boston, survived a traumatic highway accident that left him with thirty-four broken bones and an amputated leg. Hurka did his best, for the remaining twelve years of Dubus’ life, to help as his mentor and friend went through a courageous fight to regain physical strength and to write again; ON THE INVISIBLE PALM OF GOD is about an enduring friendship, and the hidden resilience of the human spirit that resides within all of us.
In his undergraduate years, Joseph Hurka’s mentor was the writer Andre Dubus, a great, large spirit of a man, today considered a twentieth-century master of the short story. Dubus opened new artistic doors for the young Hurka; he sent his student on to the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, where Hurka started his career in earnest as a writer and teacher himself.
In 1986 Dubus, trying to help stranded motorists on a highway outside Boston, survived a traumatic highway accident that left him with thirty-four broken bones and an amputated leg. Hurka did his best, for the remaining twelve years of Dubus’ life, to help as his mentor and friend went through a courageous fight to regain physical strength and to write again; ON THE INVISIBLE PALM OF GOD is about an enduring friendship, and the hidden resilience of the human spirit that resides within all of us.
274 pages, Paperback
Published June 10, 2025
10 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Hurka
6 books12 followersJoseph Hurka attended Bradford College, in Bradford, Massachusetts, where he became a teaching assistant to the short story master, Andre Dubus. Dubus sent Hurka to the University of Iowa, where he earned an MFA in creative writing. Hurka'a short stories have been published in numerous literary quarterlies, including Ploughshares, Dos Passos Review, and Agni. A book of his collected stories is forthcoming.
In 1993, Hurka traveled to the Czech Republic to walk in the footsteps of his father, Josef, a Czech Resistance fighter during Nazi and communist times. The result was FIELDS OF LIGHT: A SON REMEMBERS HIS HEROIC FATHER, which won the Pushcart Editors' Book Award; a subsequent novel, BEFORE, also related to Hurka's discovery of his Czech roots, and was published in 2007 by St. Martin's.
Hurka has just finished a new novel, called SUPERLAND, and is at work on another memoir.
In 1993, Hurka traveled to the Czech Republic to walk in the footsteps of his father, Josef, a Czech Resistance fighter during Nazi and communist times. The result was FIELDS OF LIGHT: A SON REMEMBERS HIS HEROIC FATHER, which won the Pushcart Editors' Book Award; a subsequent novel, BEFORE, also related to Hurka's discovery of his Czech roots, and was published in 2007 by St. Martin's.
Hurka has just finished a new novel, called SUPERLAND, and is at work on another memoir.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 29, 2025
In his recollections of his childhood and youth, Andre Dubus III makes it clear that his father, the writer Andre Dubus, was a pretty bad father, neglecting his children in ways that allowed them to get into all kinds of trouble. The elder Andre’s three failed marriages suggest he wasn’t a stellar husband, either. But as a man, friend and mentor, this book shows, he was amazing. And, of course, he was a masterful writer in his preferred form, the short story.
Joseph Hurka was a college dropout, helping out in his father’s struggling business and trying to make his name as a musician, when he was encouraged to give education another try. Enrolling in a writing class led by Dubus was a turning point. Deeply impressed by the honesty and warmth of the man, he gradually discovered his own talent for writing and teaching. When Dubus stopped to help a brother and sister stunned in a road accident, he was struck by passing motorist and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Hurka describes joining the close circle of friends and disciples that formed to help Dubus manage his work and life while handicapped. He gives a warm and feeling picture of the writer’s generous spirit and vivid personality during this period when he learned to “sit in a wheelchair on the frighteningly invisible palm of God”—a terrific line to capture the surrender he came to feel in his last years.
In an earlier book, “Fields of Light”, Hurka wrote of his own father’s heroic life in the Czech resistance. In this book, he describes how Dubus continually encouraged him through early disappointments in bringing that project to life, and one of the many pleasures in reading this are the small snippets of Dubus’s advice scattered throughout, enough to give any struggling writer heart and hope. If there is any weakness in the book, it might be in the way each chapter tends to peter out into atmospherics, which feel unnecessary, given the overall strength of the depictions of people and relationships. I received an advanced copy of this book for free, and I’m happy to share my pleasure in reading it.
Joseph Hurka was a college dropout, helping out in his father’s struggling business and trying to make his name as a musician, when he was encouraged to give education another try. Enrolling in a writing class led by Dubus was a turning point. Deeply impressed by the honesty and warmth of the man, he gradually discovered his own talent for writing and teaching. When Dubus stopped to help a brother and sister stunned in a road accident, he was struck by passing motorist and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Hurka describes joining the close circle of friends and disciples that formed to help Dubus manage his work and life while handicapped. He gives a warm and feeling picture of the writer’s generous spirit and vivid personality during this period when he learned to “sit in a wheelchair on the frighteningly invisible palm of God”—a terrific line to capture the surrender he came to feel in his last years.
In an earlier book, “Fields of Light”, Hurka wrote of his own father’s heroic life in the Czech resistance. In this book, he describes how Dubus continually encouraged him through early disappointments in bringing that project to life, and one of the many pleasures in reading this are the small snippets of Dubus’s advice scattered throughout, enough to give any struggling writer heart and hope. If there is any weakness in the book, it might be in the way each chapter tends to peter out into atmospherics, which feel unnecessary, given the overall strength of the depictions of people and relationships. I received an advanced copy of this book for free, and I’m happy to share my pleasure in reading it.
June 7, 2025
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
There is a belief that you should never meet your heroes. Eventually they let you down. But I have this idea that you can reverse the order. You can meet someone and as you learn about them, they become an icon, a mentor, and a friend. Joseph Hurka has written a book that supports my idea.
The relationship between the author and his writing instructor is real, but also challenging. Both the author and Andre Dubus II have to grow up in certain ways. Ultimately, I feel that their passion for their craft and a real human bond with one another supports them like the invisible palm of God.
I couldn’t help but think of the people in my life who challenged and supported me. I hope I did the same for them.
To me, the ending felt rushed or too short. I spent a lot of time with these gentlemen and I was hoping for more. This influenced my rating of four stars.
I want to thank Mr. Hurka for this book and for introducing me to his friend. I can’t wait to read work by him. And Mr. Burka’s.
There is a belief that you should never meet your heroes. Eventually they let you down. But I have this idea that you can reverse the order. You can meet someone and as you learn about them, they become an icon, a mentor, and a friend. Joseph Hurka has written a book that supports my idea.
The relationship between the author and his writing instructor is real, but also challenging. Both the author and Andre Dubus II have to grow up in certain ways. Ultimately, I feel that their passion for their craft and a real human bond with one another supports them like the invisible palm of God.
I couldn’t help but think of the people in my life who challenged and supported me. I hope I did the same for them.
To me, the ending felt rushed or too short. I spent a lot of time with these gentlemen and I was hoping for more. This influenced my rating of four stars.
I want to thank Mr. Hurka for this book and for introducing me to his friend. I can’t wait to read work by him. And Mr. Burka’s.
November 11, 2025
This book is the heartwarming and thought provocative and explores the complexities of human relations and spiritual growth.I enjoyed reading this book because I can't keep this book aside until I finish it.I am that curious.this book delves into mentorship and friendship between andre dubus and Joseph hurka.But I felt that ending was not fulfilled and too short and some lines are unnecessary which made me think booring in the middle of book.this book is highly recommend for those who is seeking inspiring stories for personal growth and resilience.
May 27, 2025
This eloquent memoir of apprenticeship, friendship, and tribute to fiction writer Andre Dubus (pere) reminds me of Gorki's classic account of Tolstoy or more recently Tom Grimes’s of Frank Conroy. Torches of craft and spirit are shared, and then passed on. First taught by Dubus at Bradford College, then by James AlanMcPherson at Iowa, Hurka becomes a teacher at Tufts and Emerson and a notable writer himself. He learns lessons concerning voice (“what you could borrow was the authority of a great writer, and that confidence carried you more deeply into your own telling—into the river of your own mystery and heart”); of empathy and listening; of inventing selves and actions better than your own; of seeking to state the problems of self or society correctly, rather than trying to solve them. When he reports his discovery to Dubus: “You write about an individual, but you’re representing all of humanity in your character,” Dubus responds, “That’s it.” Meanwhile all such mysteries are on full display in Hurka’s braided telling and musical prose.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews