• The Bartender's Tale

  • By: Ivan Doig
  • Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
  • Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,522 ratings)

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The Bartender's Tale

By: Ivan Doig
Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
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Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Fiction, 2013

Time and again, Ivan Doig has proven himself to be a treasure of American letters. Critical darlings and New York Times best sellers, his novels target the heart of the human experience and never miss the mark.

The Bartender' s Tale stars Tom Harry and his 12-year-old son, Rusty, who live alone and run a bar in a small Montana town in the early 1960s. Their lives are upended when Proxy, a woman from Tom's past, and her beatnik daughter, Francine, breeze into town. Is Francine, as Proxy claims, the unsuspected legacy of her and Tom’s past? Without a doubt she is an unsettling gust of the future, upending every certainty in Rusty’s life and generating a mist of passion and pretense that seems to obscure everyone’s vision but his own.

As Rusty struggles to decipher the oddities of adult behavior and the mysteries build toward a reckoning, Ivan Doig wonderfully captures how the world becomes bigger and the past becomes more complex in the last moments of childhood.

©2012 Ivan Doig (P)2012 Recorded Books

What listeners say about The Bartender's Tale

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Great story read by a great reader

This ranks up there with one of the best books I have listened to on Audible.

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What a gem!

Any additional comments?

Characters you won't likely forget. Language that stays with you and you wish you could replicate. Ivan Doig is a wonder.

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the best

How often do you find an author who writes 5 star books consistently? I am working my way though Doig's books. He is a storyteller par excellence. Admittedly I enjoy book of the west and historic fiction. I hate to see one of his books end. This is one of the best... we shall see what the next brings!

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Beautifully written and read!

Do not miss this charming coming of age story of a quaint time. Interesting characters with depth and wit.

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Very entertaining as an audio book

Very well acted and an interesting story. I enjoy books about Montana, sheep herding, and good men.

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Wonderful discovery

After listening to and loving The Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig I listened to this one - absolutely loved it. Beautifully written with fully drawn characters I truly grew to care for and a well paced plot, it was a pleasure from start to finish. Highly recommend.

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Awesome!

Just discovered Ivan Diog. Can’t wait to read (listen to) many more! Thank you Audible.

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Love this book. I was age 12 in 1960 too...

Love this book. I was age 12 in 1960 too. One of my all time favorite books. Thank you, Ivan...Mark

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Fabulous listen. Loved the Story and Characters

My father recently passed away and Tom Harry (the bartender) reminded me so much of my dad with his sayings and philosophy — don't do anything stupid. The narrator is terrific. The writing style makes this a very easy listen. Highly recommend.

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Fantastic story

This story was excellent, kept me wanting more and more. Narration was incredible. Thumbs up!!

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