A Home at the End of the World

By: Michael Cunningham

Narrated by: Colin Farrell, Dallas Roberts, Blair Brown, Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

From Michael Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours, comes the acclaimed novel of two boyhood friends A Home at the End of the World, now a feature film starring Colin Farrell and Dallas Roberts Jonathan.

There's Jonathan, lonely, introspective, and unsure of himself; and Bobby, hip, dark, and inarticulate. In New York after college, Bobby moves in with Jonathan and his roommate, Clare, a veteran of the city's erotic wars. Bobby and Clare fall in love, scuttling the plans of Jonathan, who is gay, to father Clare's child. Then, when Clare and Bobby have a baby, the three move to a small house upstate to raise "their" child together and, with an odd friend, Alice, create a new kind of family.

A Home at the End of the World masterfully depicts the charged, fragile relationships of urban life today.

©1990 Michael Cunningham (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

“Lyrical . . . Memorable and accomplished.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Novels don't come more deeply felt than Cunningham's extraordinary four-character study . . . The writing [is] a constant pleasure, flowing and yet dense with incisive images and psychological nuance.” —Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe

“Cunningham writes with power and delicacy . . . We come to feel that we know Jonathan, Bobby, and Clare as if we lived with them; yet each one retains the mystery that in people is called soul, and in fiction is called art.” —Richard Eder, The Los Angeles Times

This book did stuff to my heart.

There are books you don’t like, books you like, books you love & then there are the books you fall completely in love with. The latter is where I’d place this book for me. Never have I come across a book so realistic yet captivating. I can see these characters so clearly in my mind. I can believe everything that’s happening. Jonathan, Bobby, & Claire present an unconventional way of living that just felt so real to me. This book will not be for everyone but, you know, I kind of love that about it. The story stays strong from it’s beginning to it’s beautiful ending.
The audiobook itself is amazing. Read so perfectly by the four narrators.

ended too soon

I loved these characters. They draw the listener in and they become real. Cunningham received raves for The Hours, but this story and these characters are much more accessible and endearing.

Pathetic lives

What did you like best about A Home at the End of the World? What did you like least?

The narrators were great. Although I couldn't bring myself to like Clair or Jonathan I could picture them well in my mind. The best thing I can say about the story is, if you ever think your life is screwed up listen to the lives of these losers and you'll feel much better. These people make suicide seem like a viable option.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Home at the End of the World?

The ending when I felt so much better about my life.

Which scene was your favorite?

Alice getting high and enjoying her life for a brief moment.

Was A Home at the End of the World worth the listening time?

It held my interest in the hope that Jonathan woud dump the hag, get a real man and have a life.

A compelling work . . .

The characters in this book speak about life – in the rawest sense of the word. The story line is somewhat fanciful – but the writing contains many important aphorisms about life and relationships. It is a compelling “listen” and is probably a book to which I will return. A very worthwhile work!

Great Book

I loved the narration and story. The characters of Jonathan and Bobby are well formed and fully fleshed out. The character of Claire is a bit of a predator, spoiled and abrasive. The central core of unconditional love is the ultimate success of this novel and the theme of being able to expand your heart to include someone else without jealousy is unique and important

Author’s brilliance is blinding

I have long since read everything by M Cunningham that is in print, as far as I know. Thirsting for a genius writer — so difficult to find these days— , I dug through Wikipedia and found there was still one Cunningham book I had not read. Apparently his very first.

Astonished to discover— he was as brilliant 30 + years ago as he is today. His story, character, writing finesse, reflections and observations take my breath away about 2-3x/page.

The narration was uneven. Some narrators better than others. None of them measures up to the mastery needed for his writing.

And on a somewhat less important note… but maybe important?- your narrators damn sure ought to know how to pronounce Layers Nyro’s name correctly. Shame on all of the Audible team for letting this embarrassing gaffe get through.

Please Mr. Cunningham write more. No one is in your class any more.

A common affliction - story fades at the end

This book suffers from a problem I'm noticing more and more in books - it starts out strong and then peters out towards the end. I can only assume this comes from authors having a good idea, but not knowing how to wrap the story up. I found the first 3/4 to 5/6 of the book to be very engaging and the characters to be sympathetic and well-developed personalities. Unfortunately, near the end most of the characters became cloying and unlikable and the storyline stalled. Perhaps this was the sentiment the author was going for - I can imagine that the author might have been creating a metaphor for the real world: your friends are sometimes irritating and life sometimes feels meaningless. I have read, however, books that communicated the same meaning in a more meaningful and fulfilling way than this book.

A beautiful book.

I guess I am not going to say anything new here- this is indeed a beautiful book. Maybe not for everyone. Well-read to my surprise. Perhaps one of the best examples of the contemporary stream of consciousness literature, which should be apparent from his other beautiful novel- The Hours- which deals with one of his favorite writers: VW :

A.

Beautifully written

A little slow starting but you become very invested in the characters. The story is really well written.

not very compelling

Is there anything you would change about this book?

the book is about our core loneliness, our sense of being adrift in the world. but i just didn't find it satisfying or feel close to the characters at all.