The Brothers K, David James Duncan
The Brothers K, David James Duncan
List: $32.50 | Sale: $22.75
Club: $16.25

The Brothers K

Author: David James Duncan

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Unabridged: 28 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/12/2024


Synopsis

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
 
Once in a great while a writer comes along who can truly capture the drama and passion of the life of a family. David James Duncan, author of the novel The River Why and the collection River Teeth, is just such a writer. And in The Brothers K he tells a story both striking and in its originality and poignant in its universality.
 
This touching, uplifting novel spans decades of loyalty, anger, regret, and love in the lives of the Chance family. A father whose dreams of glory on a baseball field are shattered by a mill accident. A mother who clings obsessively to religion as a ward against the darkest hour of her past. Four brothers who come of age during the seismic upheavals of the sixties and who each choose their own way to deal with what the world has become. By turns uproariously funny and deeply moving, and beautifully written throughout, The Brothers K is one of the finest chronicles of our lives in many years.
 
Praise for The Brothers K

“The pages of The Brothers K sparkle.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Duncan is a wonderfully engaging writer.”—Los Angeles Times

“This ambitious book succeeds on almost every level and every page.”—USA Today

“Duncan’s prose is a blend of lyrical rhapsody, sassy hyperbole and all-American vernacular.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“The Brothers K affords the . . . deep pleasures of novels that exhaustively create, and alter, complex worlds. . . . One always senses an enthusiastic and abundantly talented and versatile writer at work.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Duncan . . . tells the larger story of an entire popular culture struggling to redefine itself—something he does with the comic excitement and depth of feeling one expects from Tom Robbins.”—Chicago Tribune

About David James Duncan

David James Duncan is the author of the novels The River Why and The Brothers K, the story collection River Teeth, and the nonfiction collections My Story as Told by Water (a National Book Award finalist), and God Laughs & Plays. His work has won three Pacific Northwest Booksellers Awards, two Pushcart Prizes, a Lannan Fellowship, the Western States Book Award, inclusion in Best American Essays, Best American Sports Writing, Best American Catholic Writing, five volumes of Best American Spiritual Writing, an honorary doctorate from University of Portland, the American Library Association's 2004 Award for the Preservation of Intellectual Freedom (with co-author Wendell Berry), and other honors. David lives in a cottonwood and pine grove on a charming little trout stream in Missoula, Montana.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Steve on November 13, 2015

With an average rating of 4.40, it’ll be hard to argue that this book is under-appreciated. But that’s precisely what I intend to do. To bolster my case, I’ll be using graphs to display falsely precise measures in an attempt to gain credibility. The real goal (apart from the gimmick) is to highlight......more

Goodreads review by Summer on January 31, 2008

Okay. I have spent a lot of time trying to formulate a persuasive review for this book. I could tell you this: that everyone I've ever recommended it to who has read it has really, really loved it. Many of them have bought extra copies for people they want to recommend it to. Many of them have given......more

Goodreads review by Shawn on October 22, 2022

so entirely fantastic…......more

Goodreads review by Devin on October 12, 2007

The Brothers K is one of the best books I've ever read. This is the deceptively complex story of an American family. A mother, father, four sons, and two daughters, growing up in the 50s and 60s. Their childhoods shaped by the family's two passions: baseball and religion. Their adulthoods shaped by......more


Quotes

“The pages of The Brothers K sparkle.”The New York Times Book Review
 
“Duncan is a wonderfully engaging writer.”Los Angeles Times
 
“This ambitious book succeeds on almost every level and every page.”USA Today
 
“Duncan’s prose is a blend of lyrical rhapsody, sassy hyperbole and all-American vernacular.”San Francisco Chronicle
 
The Brothers K affords the . . . deep pleasures of novels that exhaustively create, and alter, complex worlds. . . . One always senses an enthusiastic and abundantly talented and versatile writer at work.”The Washington Post Book World
 
“Duncan . . . tells the larger story of an entire popular culture struggling to redefine itself—something he does with the comic excitement and depth of feeling one expects from Tom Robbins.”Chicago Tribune