The Good Father
A Novel
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The Good Father
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Narrated by:
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Bruce Turk
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Arthur Morey
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Ryan Gesell
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By:
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Noah Hawley
About this listen
From the award-winning creator of the TV show Fargo and author of the best seller Before the Fall, an intense, psychological novel about one doctor's suspense-filled quest to unlock the mind of a suspected political assassin: his 20-year-old son.
As the Chief of Rheumatology at Columbia Presbyterian, Dr. Paul Allen's specialty is diagnosing patients with conflicting symptoms, patients other doctors have given up on. He lives a contented life in Westport with his second wife and their twin sons - hard won after a failed marriage earlier in his career that produced a son named Daniel. In the harrowing opening scene of this provocative and affecting novel, Dr. Allen is home with his family when a televised news report announces that the Democratic candidate for president has been shot at a rally, and Daniel is caught on video as the assassin.
Daniel Allen has always been a good kid - a decent student, popular - but, as a child of divorce, used to shuttling back and forth between parents, he is also something of a drifter. Which may be why, at the age of 19, he quietly drops out of Vassar and begins an aimless journey across the United States, during which he sheds his former skin and eventually even changes his name to Carter Allen Cash.
Told alternately from the point of view of the guilt-ridden, determined father and his meandering, ruminative son, The Good Father is a powerfully emotional pause register that keeps one guessing until the very end. This is an absorbing and honest novel about the responsibilities - and limitations - of being a parent and our capacity to provide our children with unconditional love in the face of an unthinkable situation.
©2012 Noah Hawley (P)2012 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Good Father
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Victoria
- 08-06-12
Almost Really Good
If you could sum up The Good Father in three words, what would they be?
Almost Really Good
Who was your favorite character and why?
The father and his transition from unbeliever to acknowledgment was really done well, as any of us with children can relate.
What about the narrators’s performance did you like?
The narrator did a good job of being objective in his performance, and keeping an even keel as the story developed.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Reality Show
Any additional comments?
I listened to this book days after the Aurora, CO theatre shootings. Also, I am from Tucson, AZ, where the Gabby Giffords shooting occurred (contrary to the book naming Phoenix as the place of the shooting), so this type of story was especially personal. In addition to the Phoenix error, there were other blatenly incorrect statements (such as the statement that Montana had no speed limits ((they were put in place in 1999)) that I would have thought any first-year editor would have caught and corrected. These types of errors were jarring, and although I liked the book overall, they diminished my enjoyment of it.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ed Brisson
- 09-11-17
A Gut Punch
Loved this book start to finish. Seldom have I listened to a book that captures what it's like to be a parent -- what it's like to fail as a parent -- as much as this book.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- L.L.C.M
- 08-24-18
What is is
It was a good ending. I felt it was satisfying and wrapped it up nicely.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brownp
- 05-12-17
Hits Close To Home
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend this book to many. This book brought back many personal memories to me. My sister's murder, almost 20 years ago, was made more difficult and confusing due to the murderer's family and their behavior during the investigation and subsequent trial preparation. Her murder was no "smoking gun", and a confession. The murderer was caught just following the act and the evidence was overwhelming. Years later, and in retrospect, this book does a good job of the explaining the murderer's mother and the reasons she behaved the way she did.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Good Father?
The moment the father could no longer pretend his son was innocent.The study of the power of denial is very eye opening.
Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
An excellent narrator.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I had to read, think about what I read, then read again.
Any additional comments?
A very good read, and excellent study of parental love, guilt, and surviving the unimaginable.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- James Munoz
- 07-17-17
Humanity
What I like most about Noah Hawley is how he imbues his characters with their own unique and complex humanity. Their actions do not seem to simply be plot devices as they could, but rather intricate aspects of their personalities. There is more vulgarity than I am comfortable with and the frat house chaos was graphic and seemed more descriptive than necessary. I loved the way that the assassination histories were woven in as "case files". I think they added a richness to the characters.
This could have easily been a book about gun laws, full of anti-firearm sentiments, but I felt as though guns were only a piece in the puzzle of frayed souls of the men and women that took them up with the intent to harm. I left this book feeling a catharsis and a healthy burden to love those around me and express deep gratitude for the resilience of the human spirit and rich power of connection.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AlexWals
- 01-07-25
A fictional event, written so believably, with related factual history, it certainly feels like reality,
I honestly checked twice to confirm I was reading fiction. The author so skillfully unfurls characters and events, and intertwines the telling with real people and happenings, as to make the reader believe this is a true story.
The father's delve into his son's, and his own, life timeline, in order to negate, then make sense of, an inexplicable action, is skillful and thorough.
The addition of historical, comparable events, and the people who caused those, begins as what I felt was a somewhat boring aside. As the story goes on, however, including the history of real-life deranged killers becomes a strong part of the story as a whole. Are any of these minds alike? What could be a common thread? A fascinating method to prod us into understanding the validity of learning of such backgrounds to comprehend, or at least accept, a loved ones' own abnormal thought processes and actions. We don't know the father is learning about notorious murderers along with us, but we can feel how absorbing this information might be helping him to slowly, painfully accept his own reality.
Long-winded, yes, and quite often way too overly-detailed, and I found myself fast-forwarding through completely unnecessary - most often overtly sexual-asides and comments. Also negative: the many points where something that should've included a brief explanation. Off the top of my head, such as when the Dr mentions an ailment, as if we'd all know what that word means. A quick definition would definitely have enhanced the feeling of reality. We got so much factual info about killers and their histories, and what might've led to their actions--leaving out small factoids was definitely a strange, noticeable inconsistency.
The epilogue is, as with many novels, ridiculously long, and doesn't even take place after the event that will end the main story. It also didn't provide any real finality, beyond what the main book already had, or beyond what we expected. It's just a weird clinger piece that most authors should let go of; it just comes off as droning on, the writer unable to just finish the darn thing and let go.
Overall, though, this unique method, and intriguing subject matter, was a great choice.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- evelyn t. burns
- 07-22-16
You'll make up reasons to drive
Keeps you thinking and wanting more
Well read and well presented
Recommended
Stayed in the car several times to steal a few more minutes
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cherish Quick
- 01-28-21
Great Story Telling
I especially liked the narration by other characters and the historical backdrop.
Vivid descriptions. Grand imagery.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gustav Lindgren
- 04-27-18
Still touched, an amazing book
This book is one of the most touching and wonderful books I’ve ever read. Nothing more to say.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- KDF
- 05-21-20
Painfully captivating
I typically don't get into suspense but I couldn't put this down once I started. The words pulled me in as if I were a character in the story. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
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