• The Goldfinch

  • By: Donna Tartt
  • Narrated by: David Pittu
  • Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (41,249 ratings)

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The Goldfinch  By  cover art

The Goldfinch

By: Donna Tartt
Narrated by: David Pittu
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Editorial review


By Sam Danis, Audible Editor

THE GOLDFINCH IS A COMING-OF-AGE EPIC THAT WILL STEAL YOUR HE(ART)

The Goldfinch was one of the first novels I listened to when I started working at Audible nearly a decade ago. I joined the team in September, and with this title releasing in a month’s time, I remember what a very big deal it was that a new Donna Tartt book was forthcoming (she only publishes about once a decade, after all). The plot is gripping: During a bombing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, two events alter the course of 13-year-old Theo Decker’s life. His mother—the most prominent figure in his life—is killed, and he grabs the painting they were there to see (the titular Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius), thereby becoming an accidental art thief. What follows is a coming-of-age story of epic proportions—about fate, loss, consequences, and the intangibility of home and family. It is at turns sentimental, suspenseful, melancholy, and hopeful.

I watched as the glowing reviews poured in, with no real intention to listen myself. A 32-hour audiobook seemed incredibly daunting when I was new to the world of audio entertainment—primarily, a podcast and short audiobook listener. And this, after all, was literary fiction.

Why did I ultimately decide to pick it up? I can’t recall exactly, but I imagine it had something to do with peer pressure. My fellow editors and I influence each other in the best of ways—nobody wants to be the last one to hear something truly amazing—and I think it was our fiction editor, Tricia, who first sung the praises of this one. So, I buckled in (read: put on my headphones) and prepared for whatever was to come.

Continue reading Sam's review >

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration - Male, 2014

Audie Award Winner, Literary Fiction, 2014

The author of the classic best-sellers The Secret History and The Little Friend returns with a brilliant, highly anticipated new novel.

Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity.

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and at the center of a narrowing, ever-more-dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is a beautiful, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

©2013 Donna Tartt (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

Narrator David Pittu accepts the task of turning this immense volume into an excellent listening experience. Pittu portrays 13-year-old orphan Theo Decker with compassion, portraying his growing maturity in this story of grief and suspense…Pittu adds pathos to his depiction of the troubled Theo as he deals with addiction and finds himself in a dance with gangsters and the art world's darker dealers. ( AudioFile)
"Dazzling....[A] glorious, Dickensian novel, a novel that pulls together all Ms. Tartt's remarkable storytelling talents into a rapturous, symphonic whole and reminds the reader of the immersive, stay-up-all-night pleasures of reading." ( New York Times)
"A long-awaited, elegant meditation on love, memory, and the haunting power of art....Eloquent and assured, with memorable characters....A standout-and well-worth the wait." ( Kirkus, Starred Review)

Featured Article: 10 Great Contemporary Fiction Authors


If you like well-written novels that prioritize compelling timely storylines with artful prose and structure, then this is the genre for you. So, why is it called "contemporary"? Because it’s fiction set in the real world, in times contemporary to the date it was published, and the stories deal with real-world issues. Representing a diversity of backgrounds and nationalities, here are our picks for the best writers of contemporary fiction over the last 50 years.

What listeners say about The Goldfinch

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And the Oscar for amazing narrator

Would you listen to The Goldfinch again? Why?

The narrator is just about one of the best narrators I've ever come by. His narration is a masterpiece. I couldn't imagine reading this book without hearing him in my mind.
The book is painfully long, but well worth it.
I've actually cried, laughed, and felt emotional with this book.
I'm hosting a bookclub for this book because I can't imagine not having someone to bounce some of the thoughts I've had while reading it off of.
If you can devote the time and energy to this book- DO IT.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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this is an amazing book, I absolutely loved it.

I laughed, I cried I felt as if I was part of the story. like it happened to a friend of mine and I was able to go into his head and listen. I woke up and went to sleep thinking about this book. I couldn't comprehend how deep I was was into this book. I'm listening to it one more time, maybe I missed something, I'll have a different perspective.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Engaging

What did you love best about The Goldfinch?

Loved the character development and radical change of locatons

Who was your favorite character and why?

Especially liked the main characters and his guardian.

Have you listened to any of David Pittu’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

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

I was definitely engaged but its a very long book!

Any additional comments?

The drug use and addictive parts of the story were too much at times but may be what made it so compelling.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Long but good

When I started I really liked this book, but then it was like there are actually three stories in this one book. The ending was great, it is worth the wait.

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Riveting from Beginning to End

This story is so compelling that I could hardly tear myself away. You must read or listen to it.

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Life-altering

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite book is, I always struggle to find an answer and usually end up naming a few, stating "so many...hard to decide on just one." Well, no longer. This story touched my soul. The descriptive prose is beautiful and painted the images of Tartt's world like one of the master works that are constantly present in the book. The emotions are conveyed in a way that made me truly empathize with the characters, often moved to tears (but not full-on sobbing). I don't ever pick books based on their awards, and I saw that The Goldfinch received a lot of criticism while reading reviews. However, this is one instance when I can say it was wholly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize. Is it dark and seedy in some places? Yes. But for me, it just added a sense of depth that other stories cannot reach; turning serious novels into fluff-reading by comparison. This story is magic and I loved it beyond measure.

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Perfection

This book, this performance....stunningly perfect. Every...single...detail....described in exquisite prose. The story hunted me and if I wasn’t listening to it I was thinking about it. It rocked me on so many levels. I believe the world is now divided in two...those that appreciate and revere this work of art ,and the rest. Thank you for this amazing piece of art.

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Long winding story

The story is long and winding through a richly detailed life. It shines a light on ugly every day realities while telling a larger story of survival. It is a big commitment but worth it as you learn to Love it’s imperfect protagonist.

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A must read

This kept me interested beginning to end. I could not stop listening. Theo was such a greAt character

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    3 out of 5 stars
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wonderfully written but such a sad story.

wonderfully written but overwritten. did not understand the point to the story other than the main character had a bad life

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