Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Horse Walks into a Bar

By: David Grossman, Jessica Cohen
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

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
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about A Horse Walks into a Bar

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    83
  • 4 Stars
    71
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    17
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    110
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    13
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    83
  • 4 Stars
    53
  • 3 Stars
    40
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    17

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Agonizingly, achingly moving

A stand up comedian trying to make sense of death, from holocaust, to personal, a story of Jews, of Israel, of humanity. One wants to look away, to leave, but try to stay.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Grossman is a genius/performance is excellent

Would you listen to A Horse Walks into a Bar again? Why?

I'm certainly keeping this one--Grossman writes with attention to the moment-to-moment details of dialogue and plot--no flab here. Joe Barrett tackles a difficult work--a lot of movement in and out of different narrative voices--with ease.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

Wish he had kept walking

What a total waste of time! I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very tough listen

The reader is pitch perfect as is the writing, but the content is a tough listen. The listener is propelled forward, but I'm not sure where i ended up.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Most Interesting Way to tell a story

I am no good with reviews. The book is a conversation. You are in the audience and in his memory. Wow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!