A Horse Walks into a Bar

By: David Grossman, Jessica Cohen

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

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

Review of A Horse Walks into a Bar

My review appears here: nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/horse-walks

There is also a link to my 02/22/17 review on goodreads.com

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.

Brilliant

This book needs to be listened to. Some books are better in print, some could go either way. This one needs to be heard.

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.

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.