Antkind

A Novel

By: Charlie Kaufman

Narrated by: Fred Berman

The bold and boundlessly original debut novel from the Oscar®-winning screenwriter of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Synecdoche, New York.

Long-listed for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

“A dyspeptic satire that owes much to Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon...propelled by Kaufman’s deep imagination, considerable writing ability and bull’s-eye wit." (The Washington Post)

“An astonishing creation...riotously funny...an exceptionally good [book].” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Kaufman is a master of language...a sight to behold.” (NPR)

Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR and Men's Health

B. Rosenberger Rosenberg, neurotic and underappreciated film critic (failed academic, filmmaker, paramour, shoe salesman who sleeps in a sock drawer), stumbles upon a hitherto unseen film made by an enigmatic outsider - a film he’s convinced will change his career trajectory and rock the world of cinema to its core. His hands on what is possibly the greatest movie ever made - a three-month-long stop-motion masterpiece that took its reclusive auteur 90 years to complete - B. knows that it is his mission to show it to the rest of humanity. The only problem: The film is destroyed, leaving him the sole witness to its inadvertently ephemeral genius.

All that’s left of this work of art is a single frame from which B. must somehow attempt to recall the film that just might be the last great hope of civilization. Thus begins a mind-boggling journey through the hilarious nightmarescape of a psyche as lushly Kafkaesque as it is atrophied by the relentless spew of Twitter. Desperate to impose order on an increasingly nonsensical existence, trapped in a self-imposed prison of aspirational victimhood and degeneratively inclusive language, B. scrambles to re-create the lost masterwork while attempting to keep pace with an ever-fracturing culture of “likes” and arbitrary denunciations that are simultaneously his bête noire and his raison d’être.

A searing indictment of the modern world, Antkind is a richly layered meditation on art, time, memory, identity, comedy, and the very nature of existence itself - the grain of truth at the heart of every joke.

©2020 Charlie Kaufman (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A terrific debut novel that makes Gravity’s Rainbow read like a Dr. Seuss story...a masterwork of postmodern storytelling.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Pynchonesque ... Kaufman’s debut brims with screwball satire and provocative reflections on how art shapes people’s perception of the world.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

“This novel is magnificently imaginative, bringing to mind Beckett, Pynchon, and A. R. Moxon’s more recent The Revisionaries (2019). With this surprisingly breezy read, given its length, Kaufman proves to be a masterful novelist, delivering a tragic, farcical, and fascinating exploration of how memory defines our lives.” (Booklist)

Amazingly and epically Kaufman

Invest several hours of your life in this mind bending poetic/comic romp, and you will be amply rewarded.

Chaos

The narrator was excellent. Funny but too long, like listening to 24hrs of WoodyAllen rant

Strange Story, As You Might Expect

I have a feeling I need to listen again, because the story becomes a whirlwind. Not unpleasantly, in my opinion.

An extremely flawed main character goes on a pretty fantastic journey. His transformation isn't a neat, clean, easy or certain process, but it's full of wonders, delightful and horrible.

Kaufmanesque

This is over 700 pages of laugh out loud funny, sometimes offensive (in its insistence to not offend), sometimes confusing storytelling that is uniquely Charlike Kaufman. I felt it had a stronger first half the the second, which I had to work much harder at to follow. Antkind has many similar pre-occupations, themes, motifs of Charlie's films (puppets, simulacrum in miniature, memory, adaptations, humiliation, houses on fire), so Kaufman fans will have much to appreciate and parse. There are so many references to other pieces of art, film and popular culture, and one day, how great would it be to have an Annotated Antkind, like Martin Gardner's work for the Lewis Carroll's Alice books - as it seems like a book that will gain a certain level of cult status and would benefit from a repeat reading (which I will do one day, but I'm pretty exhausted simply after listening to this). The main reason I came here to bother to write a review was to heap some praise on the narrator/performer, Fred Berman. It's hard to know what voice and delivery I would have heard in my own head, but I think this is a 25+ hour legitimate acting performance of its own, and felt spot on in tone...from the main character of B., to the whistling psychiatrist/hypnotist Barassini to a spot-on Donald J. Trunk impression, etchetera, etchetera...

The most important book ever written

Charlie Kaufman untangles reality and braids the threads into a masterpiece. The voice actor even sounds like Kaufman. Loved it!

A book to behold

This book has about everything in it and is probably the most Kaufman-esque work the Kaufman has produced yet.
Genius, hilarious, rambling, all-encompassing.
In the hands of another reader, this might have been unbearable- but Fred Berman hits the right notes throughout, soaking up all the funny without having to lean into it.

The Height Of Absurdity And Enlightenment

Kaufman solidifies his place as a novelist worth his salt. Every page has a joie de vivre and perspecacity that makes your mind melt with appreciation and curiosity.

Post-Script - Enjoy thonself, it's later than you think.

Hysterical (in every meaning of the word)

Someone at work asked me what I was reading. I told them it was a book written by my favorite screenwriter. They asked me what it was about. I couldn't answer them. This book, more than any other story Kaufman has written, is absolutely bonkers. I have no more words. There will never be another book like it.

Absurd

This book is insane. Funny and absurd. A little too long, but worth it.

Grey Psychedelic Epic

Tackles many of the disorienting feelings and sensations of being part of this modern age, and the slipperiness of reality that comes with it. I liked this book a lot, a whole, whole lot. If you like long, dense, intricate novels that have no interest explaining themselves into redundancy (or even coherency ((I like that))), this is unmistakably for you. Hilariously tragic, painfully funny, suspiciously cyclical, optimistically cynical, heartfelt,and human, and humanizing.
I would hug Charlie Kaufman and say 'Thanks, I liked it alot.' and maybe kiss his cheek.
My little stringbean. Buy now, buy three. I am biased. 20 years on I wouldn't be surprised for this become required reading. love you,thanks 4 reading