The Dead Father

De: Donald Barthelme

Narrado por: Dennis Holland

The Dead Father is a gargantuan half-dead, half-alive, part mechanical, wise, vain, powerful being who still has hopes for himself - even while he is being dragged by means of a cable toward a mysterious goal.

In this extraordinary novel, marked by the imaginative use of language that influenced a generation of fiction writers, Donald Barthelme offered a glimpse into his fictional universe.

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of Donald Barthelme's book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews Tracy Daugherty about the life and work of Donald Barthelme – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.

This production is part of our Audible Modern Vanguard line, a collection of important works from groundbreaking authors.©1986 Donald Barthelme (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

If prepared for post-modernist comedy, drive on!

If what you enjoy is a straightforward narrative told in straightforward prose, turn around now. Barthelme is unapologetically post-modernist in approach and outlook, and in the case of "The Dead Father," introduces a healthy dose of surrealism as well. The Dead Father is an enormous figure being dragged towards some little-explained destination. He's dead. But he's not. He is a symbolic figure, at times even a mythic figure--he creates a new god just by sticking one eye in a river.

Much of the book is snatches of dialogue, sometimes in clear context, sometimes nearly incoherent. Which is actually why it lends itself to the audiobook format, at least in the hands of a reader prepared to piece out which remark belongs to which character. Dennis Holland does a superb job of interpreting a very challenging text, and the listener owes him for his work in helping us through the work. The reading reminded very much of Nick Sullivan's outstanding reading of William Gaddis' "J.R.," and if you appreciate Gaddis' humor, you are well prepared to enjoy Barthelme's. There are moments of such wonderful wordplay and verbal juxtapositions that I burst out laughing.

While this isn't one of my top 10 audiobooks, it's one I'm very satisfied to have purchased and listened to.

I love this little book

When I was an undergrad, The Dead Father is the only postmodernist work I really understood and loved, and it helped me laugh at traditions of all kinds. I teach this novel in my classes now, and the students think it's like nothing they've seen before (if they can get past the antinomial cussing, sex, and "nudity" all of which are absurdly rendered). Yet there are heart wrenching themes about the problems fathers and sons face as they struggle to communicate or even just coexist. Barthelme continues to make me laugh and think each time I read it or any of his works. Still a great read, and the audio narrator adds an extra layer of absurdity and tenderness to the piece.

This story will rock your socks

IT is a fresh and exciting style. There is a book within the book about different kinds of fathers this includes the jumping father. IT was translated from the English to the English. There is also an outdoor sex scene that includes positionA. No animals are harmed in this book, but the dead father slays many cut outs.

Worse book I've ever read

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I can't thing of anyone I know who would be interested in something like this

Has The Dead Father turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes I believe it has. I not even sure I know the genre

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He was as bad as the story

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Dead Father?

I never ended up listening to the whole book. It was too much agony!