A Calling for Charlie Barnes

By: Joshua Ferris

Narrated by: Nick Offerman

Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

From National Book Award Finalist Joshua Ferris comes a “murderously funny” novel about a modern American family and one man’s attempt to come to understand the many lives of his father. (Janet Maslin, New York Times)

Someone is telling the story of the life of Charlie Barnes, and it doesn't appear to be going well. Too often divorced, discontent with life's compromises, and in a house he hates, this lifelong schemer and eternal romantic would like out of his present circumstances and into the American dream. But when the twin calamities of the Great Recession and a cancer scare come along to compound his troubles, his dreams dwindle further, and an infinite past full of forking paths quickly tapers to a black dot.

Then, against all odds, something goes right for a change: Charlie is granted a second act. With help from his storyteller son, he surveys the facts of his life and finds his true calling where he least expects it — in a sacrifice that redounds with selflessness and love — at last becoming the man his son always knew he could be.

The new book by the acclaimed author Joshua Ferris, narrated by the beloved actor Nick Offerman, is a profound and tender portrait of a man whose desperate need to be loved is his downfall, and a brutally funny account of how that love is ultimately earned.

©2021 Joshua Ferris (P)2021 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"Ferris’s abundant skill has been evident since his debut novel, “Then We Came to the End,” was published in 2007, but here he has taken a huge leap forward, twisting semi-autobiographical material in such serpentine ways that even the author’s note is devious. This is a more tender novel than Ferris’s others, but that doesn’t keep it from being murderously funny from start to finish...Ferris's most daring experiment...Ferris’s prose remains taut and gorgeous, even when bleak. Also give him props for finding precisely the right way to meld memoir with satire, to do this with bracing originality and to keep heads spinning from this novel’s first page to its last. Gamesmanship and love don’t mix easily. But Ferris has found a way to do it, and he’s risen to the top of his game.”—Janet Maslin, New York Times Book Review

"Dazzling…There's no shortage of make-believe in A Calling for Charlie Barnes, Ferris' fifth, and best, book. A Calling for Charlie Barnes wears its metafictional heart on its sleeve, but as smart as it is, Ferris never shows any signs of falling in love with his own cleverness. Literary experiments without warmth tend to fall flat for most readers, but Ferris' novel is—remarkably, given its flawed subject—full of heart...In his previous works, Ferris has proved that he's one of the best American authors of comic fiction working today. His humor is on full display with A Calling for Charlie Barnes, but so are his intelligence and compassion; it's a masterpiece that shines a revealing light on both family and fiction itself.”—Michael Schaub, NPR

"Joshua Ferris is one of our best writers, and A Calling for Charlie Barnes is wonderful: fast and deep, urgent and brilliant. Ingeniously written, it had me up reading late into the night. A hilarious, intimate, and scathing takedown of so many American vanities."—Dana Spiotta, author of Wayward

strong start but no real plot

This is a character driven novel, with Charlie Barnes being a very interesting character. He's a middle-aged ne'er-do-well, portrayed so well and with so much humor. This felt reminiscent of a John Irving novel. Nick Offerman was the perfect reader. This started so well, but suffered as the novel progressed. The constant back-and-forth in time grew confusing and irritating, plus a plot never emerged. The writing was great, but some kind of story was needed to keep my interest here. Also, the secondary characters played a bigger role in the second half, but they were a lot less interesting than Charlie Barnes.

Wow

This one really surprised me in a good way. Yes it takes some time to get into, and I suggest playing it at 1.35x speed but it turns into such a great story that reminds me of Big Fish (the movie). the end, while I did predict would happen the way it did brought a tear to my eye. such a great novel to cause reflection. As someone called it I believe correctly, a thinking person's novel.

Enjoying & surprising.

If you enjoyed “Life of Pi” you will like this book. The narration was excellent.

Wonderful

Oh! The twists and turns! My heartstrings are stretched and twanging..
Loved the pitch perfect narration, too.

Enjoyed this inventive story!

I needed to listen carefully and there were times where I’d feel confused, but by the end of the book, I understood why I was confused. I really enjoyed this story. It’s a unique look back on a life and Nick Offerman was wonderful.

Best story of the year

This is the best story I have read this year! Does not end the way you think. It gives a very good look at human behavior in a way that is very telling.

Smart, funny and wise

With so many new books coming out at the end of the year, A Calling for Charlie Barnes seems to have gotten a short shrift. Ferris writes about, among other things, families and their dysfunction, aging, the trajectory of a life, and the accuracy of memory. All of this is done with humor, compassion and wisdom.

A character study- a good one if you like them

I could tell the whole time I was listening that this was well written. The prose is rich, the structure of the novel builds well, Charlie Barnes is fully fleshed out as are all the supporting characters. But it is primarily a character study and they can be ponderous- rich detail about emotions surrounding events. A great deal of backstory to give meaning to a particular plot point. But I'm not a huge fan of character studies because they are ponderous. This book has won awards- so who am I to judge the worth of the book? But in the end I was glad I had finished it, not particularly glad I had listened to it.

A uniquely meta-unreliable narrator....

Offerman is a great choice to read this as he inhabits the voice of Steady Boy while blending with our actual narrative perspective in Jake. Oddly, or perhaps even intentionally, Jake is the shell of a defined character and is more or less just "the writer" chewing away at the complexities of this strange man and family. We barely get to know him as a person and he's basically inhabiting his father for most of the book. I like the unexpected little twists and turns in the second half, but I often feel like Ferris is the diet version of Johnathan Franzen - who would have doubled the pages of this novel and given Karen 100 pages of her very own in a Corrections. Ferris is an amazing writer who can sing a sentence with the best of them, but I'd like to see a fully explored version of this.

What was this?

Strangely fascinating, yet boring at the same time. Captivated by the excellent writing and narration, I had to listen to the end. Once done, however, I cannot tell you why I finished it. Something is there, but I don't know what.