The Bartender's Tale Audiobook By Ivan Doig cover art

The Bartender's Tale

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The Bartender's Tale

By: Ivan Doig
Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
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About this listen

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
Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Westerns
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What listeners say about The Bartender's Tale

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Compelling Storytelling Richly Drawn Characters Engaging Coming-of-age Tale Heartwarming Father-son Relationship
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Fantastic story!

This story really gave me a special feeling, having myself grown up in a small town in Montana at about the same time, the remeninces were in full. High Definition. The narathon was outstanding.

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entertaining and historically interesting

this story both entertained and inspired me to want to visit historic fort peck reservoir

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Captured me!

This is the second book that I have read by Ivan Doig, The Whistling Season being the first one. I am now a big fan of this author. He is an amazing story teller and I will seek out his other books. This story was enchanting and well crafted. Character development is excellent and I get to know and love the people he writes about. Wholesome stories are a welcome addition to my life and this author is a winner on that front!

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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!

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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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