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A Horse Walks into a Bar  By  cover art

A Horse Walks into a Bar

By: David Grossman,Jessica Cohen
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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Publisher's summary

In a little dive in a small Israeli city, Dov Greenstein, a comedian a bit past his prime, is doing a night of stand-up. In the audience is a district court justice, Avishai Lazar, whom Dov knew as a boy, along with a few others who remember Dov as the awkward, scrawny kid who walked on his hands to confound the neighborhood bullies. Gradually, teetering between hilarity and hysteria, Dov's patter becomes a kind of memoir, taking us back into the terrors of his childhood - his beautiful flower of a mother, a Holocaust survivor in need of constant monitoring; his punishing father, a striver who had little understanding of his creative son. Finally, recalling his week at a military camp for youth - where Lazar witnessed what became the central event of Dov's childhood - Dov describes the indescribable while Lazar wrestles with his own part in the comedian's story of loss and survival. A beautiful performance by Grossman (jokes in questionable taste included).

©2014 David Grossman and Ha'kibbutz Ha'meuchad; English translation copyright 2017 by Jessica Cohen (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

What listeners say about A Horse Walks into a Bar

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An extraordinary experience

I can't say enough good things about hearing this terrific book read. by this extraordinary reader – that's an experience I'll never forget.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Grossman is a genius/performance is excellent

Would you listen to A Horse Walks into a Bar again? Why?

I'm certainly keeping this one--Grossman writes with attention to the moment-to-moment details of dialogue and plot--no flab here. Joe Barrett tackles a difficult work--a lot of movement in and out of different narrative voices--with ease.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Mixed feelings

Narration of this book requires differentiating voices. The narrator did not do that and sometimes it was confusing as to who was talking, doing, thinking. It was the sort of book that would probably have been better read because some things needed to be reread. I had a hard time getting into it at first. But, like the audience, which I think was the point, I became intrigued with the character. The title leads one to believe that it will be a humorous story. It is not.

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Felt like I was paying to be a therapist

The main character is one unhappy person who is trying to make a living as a stand-up comic. At one point in the book, someone in the audience gets up and walks out, saying something along the lines of "why doesn't he pay a therapist." That pretty much sums ups he story - it's a stand up comic, who is not really funny, working out his issues on stage. The side story of the person in the audience who was his childhood friend is absolutely lost in all the melancholy of the stand up comic's antics on stage.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very tough listen

The reader is pitch perfect as is the writing, but the content is a tough listen. The listener is propelled forward, but I'm not sure where i ended up.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Agonizingly, achingly moving

A stand up comedian trying to make sense of death, from holocaust, to personal, a story of Jews, of Israel, of humanity. One wants to look away, to leave, but try to stay.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Tour de Force

A gripping view of a ravaged soul coming to terms with his mortality and a final desire for human connection. Moving, funny, and rewarding.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Formidable Grossman

A Tour de Force. The narration was key. An amazing narrative to listen to while driving. Transporting to another world!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Don't waste your time

The narrator was awful...his Hebrew was terrible and his voices weren't distinct enough to differentiate characters

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great book and amazing reading

This is a great book to listen to. The story is solid. the reading is great. I don't want to spoil--just listen.

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