Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot

By: John Callahan

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1972, at the age of 21, John Callahan was involved in a car crash that severed his spine and made him a quadriplegic. A heavy drinker since the age of 12 (alcohol had played a role in his crash), the accident could have been the beginning of a downward spiral. Instead, it sparked a personal transformation.

After extensive physical therapy, he was eventually able to grasp a pen in his right hand and make rudimentary drawings. By 1978, Callahan had sworn off drinking for good and begun to draw cartoons.

Over the next three decades, until his death in 2010, Callahan would become one of the nation's most beloved - and at times polarizing - cartoonists. His work, which shows off a wacky and sometimes warped sense of humor, pokes fun at social conventions and pushes boundaries. One cartoon features Christ at the cross with a thought bubble reading "T.G.I.F". In another, three sheriffs on horseback approach an empty wheelchair in the desert. "Don't worry," one sheriff says to another, "He won't get far on foot." Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot recounts Callahan's life story, from the harrowing to the hilarious.

©1989 John Callahan and David Kelly (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

God so good!

I cried a few times because even though I’m not a paraplegic I have felt the same addiction

Inspirational!

First of all, the narrator couldn't have been more perfect for the subject matter. Incredible delivery and a perfect voice for the material. Second, I read the book in high school. I was a wanna-be cartoonist and someone gave me the book and I was amazed someone paralyzed could find a way to draw. I immediately responded to John Callahan's irreverent humor and became more intrigued with his personal life than with his cartooning career. There was some mention of his process in a later chapter regarding cartooning but the majority of the book is about Callahan's struggle to overcome alcohol addiction and find peace with his past and I was hooked reading it cover to cover in no time. 25 years after I first read the book I revisit it as an alcoholic myself. I had forgotten all about John Callahan over the years until I heard a movie based on the book was coming out and it all came back to me and I got the audible version and listened to it straight through. This is not just a recovery diary. John Callahan's life story is for anyone since it is ultimately an uplifting and touching example which proves where there's a will there's a way and nothing can snuff out the human spirit.

Can't stand the narrator but love Callahan

The narrator's voice was grating and just unpleasant to listen to. I've listened to other things of his and just don't like his work.

But the book was great. Check out Pelwick, the two season Nicktoon Callahan created. Excellent. He was a genius.