Barefoot to Avalon

A Brother's Story

By: David Payne

Narrated by: David Payne

In 2000, while moving his household from Vermont to North Carolina, David Payne watched from his rearview mirror as his younger brother, George A., driving behind him in a two-man convoy of rental trucks, lost control of his vehicle, fishtailed, flipped over in the road, and died instantly. Soon thereafter, David's life hit a downward spiral. His career came to a standstill, his marriage disintegrated, and his drinking went from a cocktail-hour indulgence to a full-blown addiction. He found himself haunted not only by George A.'s death but also by his brother's manic depression, a hereditary illness that overlaid a dark family history whose roots now gripped David.

Barefoot to Avalon is Payne's earnest and unflinching account of George A. and their boyhood footrace that lasted long into their adulthood, defining their relationship and their lives. As universal as it is intimate, this is an exceptional memoir of brotherhood, of sibling rivalries and sibling love, and of the torments a family can hold silent and carry across generations.

Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. Page ix: Excerpt from Roth, Philip, The Counterlife. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986. Page 21: Excerpt from "It All Comes Together outside the Restroom in Hogansville" by James Seay taken from Seay, James, Water Tables. © 1974 by Wesleyan University Press. Used with permission. Page 24: Excerpt from "Burnt Norton" by T. S. Eliot taken from Eliot, T. S., Collected Poems 1909 - 1935. London: Faber, 1936, by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company; Copyright © renewed 1964 by T.S. Eliot. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Page 43: Excerpt from Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner copyright © 1936 by William Faulkner and renewed 1964 by Estelle Faulkner and Jill Faulkner Summers. Used by permission of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Page 65: "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot was first published in Poetry magazine in 1915. All lines quoted are public domain. Page 70: excerpt from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss, ® and copyright © by Dr. Seuss Enterprises L.P., 1960, renewed 1988. Used by permission of Random House Children's Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Pages 78, 124, 138: Excerpts taken from Jung, C. G., Memories, Dreams and Reflections. New York: Pantheon Books, 1963.

©2015 David Payne (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Poignant, Heartbreaking & Insightful...Please Read

Read/Listen to it, then tell all those you care deeply about that you love & appreciate them.

Payne is the best

David Payne writes unlike any other. Turns out he reads the same way!!! Can we get Early from the Dance next, please?

heartbreaking story about depression and its deva

the story of hurt almost too much and for many, too close to home. it gives hope. Well written and performed by the author.

Heartwarming and Engrossing Listen

If you could sum up Barefoot to Avalon in three words, what would they be?

Moving, Suspenseful, Haunting

What was one of the most memorable moments of Barefoot to Avalon?

David's circling back to the awful car accident that claimed his brother's life.

Which scene was your favorite?

George A. and David packing up Daivd's Vermont home--the day before the awful accident.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES!

Any additional comments?

Payne writes with gorgeous, lyrical prose.His words are musical to the ear.

Fantastic

Very moving. I couldn't put it down. It hit on passages in my own life, made me cry, yet helped me.

David Payne’s command of the language

David Payne’s words are lyrical, pure poetry, carrying the reader down into his world of raw self examination and naked grief as he dissects the components of his family and his brother’s death.