• The Goldfinch

  • By: Donna Tartt
  • Narrated by: David Pittu
  • Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (41,257 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: The Audible Essentials Top 100


The spirited (but friendly) debate over these titles could have gone on indefinitely. With years of listening, countless customer reviews, and a catalog of seemingly infinite great listens, 100 suddenly felt like a very small number. What we know for sure—each title that made it to this collection is elevated and made special in some way by audio, whether by a layered performance from a single narrator, a brilliantly cohesive full cast, original music, or immersive sound effects. Discover an audio experience for the ages.

What listeners say about The Goldfinch

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24,136
  • 4 Stars
    10,075
  • 3 Stars
    4,320
  • 2 Stars
    1,594
  • 1 Stars
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Performance
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    28,081
  • 4 Stars
    6,372
  • 3 Stars
    1,772
  • 2 Stars
    540
  • 1 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    20,942
  • 4 Stars
    8,895
  • 3 Stars
    4,346
  • 2 Stars
    1,710
  • 1 Stars
    1,251

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    4 out of 5 stars

engaging story, wonderful narration

Jam packed with deeper meanings & thoughts to ponder, but also very engaging story even just on the surface. Many characters, but always easy to know who was speaking. Very careful & descriptive word choices. Loved it, though beware it could be very dark & had drug use throughout.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful

Such a great book. The reader is first class. Character development is deep. Book has it all. Drama, crime, love. Just loved it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing

This book is incredible. Absolutely loved the narrator and the story. Wishing for more Theo.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story

Interesting from the start. Many twists and turns in the adventures of this boy's/young man's life.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Whew...

the narrator was amazing.. the story was sometimes exasperating descriptive... still kept me captivated. the dark Ness of the story was disturbing but so artfully sensitive. I would not typically choose a book of this type but I am vet glad I did.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Review of The Goldfinch

Loved the readers varied voices, but the story just dragged on too long. Loved the notion, but had to cut bait 2/3 or more through .

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Almost perfect

Overall this was one of the most enjoyable audiobooks I've listened to. The story is riveting, and I really think David Pittu's narration may be the single best narration I've ever heard (I have over 200 titles here).

The book is grand, with well fleshed out, lovable and flawed characters that really come to life in Pittu's narration. Some of the characters will stay with me for a long, long time.

I agree with one of the other reviewers that the very end of the book was not quite as perfect as the rest of it. I listened to the final monologue a couple of times, and it just left me feeling a bit confused and empty. I am still going with 5 stars overall, just docking one star from the story - even though it was an absolute joy to listen to the entirety of this. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing work of art

This book is a classic. The audio performance is unparalleled! I lived this book for two weeks and will miss it! Thanks

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story!

This is excellently written and I found it difficult to put down. as a spoiler alert, don't watch the movie before reading the book. it follows pretty closely.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An epic catastrophe

One of the depressing and optimistic, relatable and unrelatable, boring and interesting stories I’ve read. It’s an epic philosophical journey, but I could use half the time back spent describing art and furniture

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