Bunkobons

← All books

Cover of A Calling for Charlie Barnes: A Novel

A Calling for Charlie Barnes: A Novel

by Joshua Ferris

Buy on Amazon

From a National Book Award Finalist comes a novel about a modern American family and a man on a secret mission to uncover the world's hidden truths--until his two lives come crashing together. Someone is telling the story of the life of Charlie Barnes, and it doesn't appear to be going well. Too often divorced, discontent with life's compromises and in a house he hates, this lifelong schemer and eternal romantic would like out of his present circumstances and into the American dream. But when the twin calamities of the Great Recession and a cancer scare come along to compound his troubles, his dreams dwindle further, and an infinite past full of forking paths quickly tapers to a black dot. Then, against all odds, something goes right for a change: Charlie is granted a second act.…

Recommended by

"Joshua Ferris’ comic novel follows a suburban Chicago investment adviser who believes he’s dying of pancreatic cancer, only to find out that his internet-fueled self-diagnosis was wrong. He tries to make amends with his estranged children, with mixed results. Then things go off the rails with a series of narrative shifts that lead the reader to question whether anything that came before was actually true. The novel wears its metafictional heart on its sleeve, but as smart as it is, Ferris isn’t in love with his own cleverness – the result is a brilliant novel that’s full of heart."
NPR Books We Love — 2021 · apps.npr.org