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    Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel
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    Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel
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    Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    Narrated by Nick Offerman and David Sedaris

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The long-awaited first novel from the author of Tenth of December: a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented

    February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy's body.

    From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state-called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo-a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.

    Lincoln in the Bardo     is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?

    The 166-person full cast features award-winning actors and musicians, as well as a number of Saunders' family, friends, and members of his publishing team, including, in order of their appearance:
     
    Nick Offerman as HANS VOLLMAN
    David Sedaris as ROGER BEVINS III
    Carrie Brownstein as ISABELLE PERKINS
    George Saunders as THE REVEREND EVERLY THOMAS
    Miranda July as MRS. ELIZABETH CRAWFORD
    Lena Dunham as ELISE TRAYNOR
    Ben Stiller as JACK MANDERS
    Julianne Moore as JANE ELLIS
    Susan Sarandon as MRS. ABIGAIL BLASS
    Bradley Whitford as LT. CECIL STONE
    Bill Hader as EDDIE BARON
    Megan Mullally as BETSY BARON
    Rainn Wilson as PERCIVAL "DASH" COLLIER
    Jeff Tweedy as CAPTAIN WILLIAM PRINCE
    Kat Dennings as MISS TAMARA DOOLITTLE
    Jeffrey Tambor as PROFESSOR EDMUND BLOOMER
    Mike O'Brien as LAWRENCE T. DECROIX
    Keegan-Michael Key as ELSON FARWELL
    Don Cheadle as THOMAS HAVENS
    and
    Patrick Wilson as STANLEY "PERFESSER" LIPPERT
    with
    Kirby Heyborne as WILLIE LINCOLN,
    Mary Karr as MRS. ROSE MILLAND,
    and Cassandra Campbell as Your Narrator


    Praise for the audiobook

    "Lincoln in the Bardo" sets a new standard for cast recordings in its structure, in its performances, and in its boldness. Now, let's see who answers the challenge." - Chicago Tribune
     
    "Like the novel, the audiobook breaks new ground in what can be accomplished through a story. It helps that there's not a single bad note in the cast of a whopping 166 people. It's also the rare phenomenon of an audiobook being a completely different experience compared to the novel. Even if you've read the novel, the audiobook is worth a listen (and vice versa). The whole project pushes the narrative form forward." - A.V. Club
     
    "The result is an auditory experience unlike any other, where the awareness of individual voices disappears while the carefully calibrated soundscape summons a metaphysical masterpiece. This is a tour de

    Editor's Note

    Masterfully balanced…

    It’s hard to imagine there was anything left to know about Abraham Lincoln, but Saunders’ portrait of the man as a mourning father — even while absurdly surrounded by ghosts — is deeply intimate. The novel is a masterful balancing act between black humor and pathos, and between history and fiction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 14, 2017
    ISBN9780553397581
    Unavailable
    Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel

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    Reviews for Lincoln in the Bardo

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    1,636 ratings160 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I enjoyed listening to this one, but after awhile the impressiveness of the style wore off and I just wasn't super excited to pick it back up each time.
    • 5/5
      "None of it was real; nothing was real. Everything was real; inconceivably real, infinitely dear." This passage near the end of Saunders' inventive, original book is at its heart. As structure, Saunders uses conversations and reminiscences among recently deceased people in "the bardo" at a graveyard, snatches of historical commentary on the night Lincoln's son Willie died, and the reports of the cemetery watchman the night Lincoln comes to visit Willie's tomb for each of his chapters. The language as the dead people--primarily Hans Vollman and Roger Bevins--describe their experiences of that evening--sounds historically accurate. As the novel progresses through its 108 short chapters, we learn more of the lives of the population of the Bardo, and the characters are developed. I don't know if the sources Saunders uses are fictional or not; mostly I suspect they are, but one of the charms of the book is that you can't really tell. The book is rather in the tradition of Spoon River Anthology or the play Our Town (Saunders has said he originally conceived it as a play), or maybe Canterbury Tales, but the characters are much more ambiguous. How the rules of existence in the Bardo are developed is ingenious; and maybe a little sly. You almost want to believe that something like this does happen after death; it's a reassurance, however fanciful, that some portion of life as we know it will continue. (I haven't mentioned the bawdy humor of the book; that's there too.)
    • 5/5
      Another completely amazing achievement by Saunders. I was initially frustrated as the novel felt a bit like a car stuck in a neighborhood full of stop signs, but I learned to stop reading it with my preconceived expectation to eventually become entranced by something brand new in literature. I will certainly need to reread and maybe even listen to the audiobook to enjoy this work in new ways again.
    • 5/5
      Listened to the audio version of this unique novel during a road trip and it was wonderful. Nick Offerman and David Sedaris and the rest of the cast were amazing.
    • 4/5
      I have to say that I was a little disappointed by this book, perhaps because of the weight of expectation - so many people whose judgment I respect love it.update 18 Oct This book has now won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. It is undoubtedly a book that will endure, so I don't begrudge its success, but I do worry about the increasing dominance of American writers in what used to be a prize with a strong British/Commonwealth identity, and which has done much to help publicise Commonwealth writers internationally.end of update - what follows is the original review Perhaps I am in a grumpy mood following the Booker shortlist announcement - I was deeply disappointed to lose Reservoir 13 and would have loved to see Home Fire and Solar Bones recognised, and I enjoyed Days Without End more than this one. I resolved immediately to get hold of the remaining books on the shortlist, which are, perhaps not entirely coincidentally, the three American ones. This one being the most expensive hardback on the list didn't help. I have never read any of Saunders' short stories either.Anyway, let's start with some positives. The book is daring and experimental, most of its characters existing in a netherworld between life and death, and full of humour, much of it crude. It does manage to convey the political atmosphere of 1860s America and the character of Lincoln too, and the central story of a dead young child is a moving one.The negatives for me - firstly the sheer number of characters and voices - not just the many inhabitants of the bardo, but also the contemporary accounts that form the remaining chapters. Secondly - since each paragraph has a named narrator, for the longer ones it might have helped to arrange the text more like a play script, so that we know who is speaking before reaching the end of the speech. Finally I just lost interest in the central conceit, perhaps because I don't believe in anything supernatural, let alone religious.Overall I found this was worthy and interesting, just not a book I felt able to love.
    • 5/5
      I was very pleased to have listened to the audiobook of George Saunders novel Lincoln in the Bardo. I read that Saunders was inspired, in part, by Thornton Wilder's play Our Town. Which play always leaves me in tears. This novel lends itself extremely well to being read as a play. The plot, in short: President Lincoln's dear son Willie has died. The Civil War has been going on for a year and 3,000 young men have just lost their lives in a Union defeat. On the day of the funeral the President returns to the crypt to hold his son once again. Willie cannot leave his father but remains with other shades in the limbo of the graveyard.The story of Willie's death on the day of a magnificent party at the president's mansion and the day of his funeral is told through snippets of historical writings that link into a loose narrative, sometimes contradicting each other.The denizens of the Bardo are rooted to their old lives, wrapped up in self-centered concerns. They include all kind of folk from various times past, class, and race. Some are unable to accept they are dead. Some are vulgar, some giving over to sin. There is a clergyman who fled from the judgement place in fear. Into this motley crew comes this blessed, innocent, boy. Several shades make it their concern to help the child move on.I was so moved by the scene where the shades enter President Lincoln to inspire him to tell his son to leave this place for the home of glory Lincoln imagines for him. And in this community of shades and living man they feel each other's pain and understand each other's burdens. They realize that Lincoln is president and filled with doubt, staggering under the immense weight of a nation and all the deaths of war, other families also grieving over sons. Willie realizes his truth and in excitement and understanding, shouts out his readiness to move on. The shades begin to understand, and forgetting their worldly concerns, let go and move on into the afterlife.Now I want to read the book again, pencil in hand to mark it up and note the passages that move me and make me sigh. This novel of grief is also a celebration of life..I thank the public library for the audiobook through Overdrive.
    • 5/5
      Simply outstanding.
    • 5/5
      What a remarkable and wonderful book! Saunders didn't write a novel, he wrote a meditation on what it means to be alive, to love, to be human. And he manages to make Lincoln more human than he already has been portrayed. Saunders is brilliant!
    • 5/5
      An amazing experience!
      This novel took a lot of patience, and willingness to embrace the unusual. I was, at first put off by the format and subject matter, but I was curious and persuaded to go for it.
      Because reading it was such a weird experience. A few pages into it, you keep thinking, “Who are these people? What is going on?”
      After a while, you stopped thinking, “What is going on?!” and just accepted that you had no choice but to sit back and let this book do what it was going to do to you.

    • 5/5
      Brilliant on many levels. Innovative style which impresses as literature and then transmutes almost imperceptibly into a thriller. Good story, characters and writing. That's the trifecta for writers.
    • 3/5
      In an interview with the author, Saunders said that he had the kernel of inspiration for this his first novel when he first heard the true story of how Abe Lincoln visited his son's interred body to hold him again after his untimely death. From this kernel Saunders then created a multi-voiced narrative told by other interred ghost who like his son Willie, are waiting to go to their final destination. During the course of the narrative we meet many of the spirits and get to know their individual stories as they try to somehow help the boy move on other side. In addition to the voices of the spirits, Saunders also cites multiple references from non-fiction books and journals to add detail and color to the this date of tragedy, February 1862. The result is at times tedious but at other times fascinating and the writing is inventive. I'll be interested to see how they make a movie of this highly acclaimed novel. NYT Lincoln in the Bardo” appropriates Masters’s multivoiced approach, using it to create a story that unfolds into a meditation on the dreams and disappointments of ordinary people, longing for connection but often left feeling isolated and alone.Important quote:"His mind was freshly inclined toward sorrow,” Saunders writes of Lincoln, “toward the fact that the world was full of sorrow, that everyone labored under some burden of sorrow; that all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, overlooked, misunderstood), and therefore one must do what one could to lighten the load of those with whom one came into contact; that his current state of sorrow was not uniquely his, not at all, but, rather, its like had been felt, would yet be felt, by scores of others, in all times, in every time, and must not be prolonged or exaggerated, because, in this state, he could be of no help to anyone and, given that his position in the world situated him to be either of great help or great harm, it would not do to stay low, if he could help it.”
    • 4/5
      Writings styles can have a huge impact on how a reader receives a story, and predictably not every reader takes to every style. So, it has to be said that Saunders took a huge step when writing Lincoln in the Bardo in such an ‘inventive’ form. Generally our group were under-whelmed and unimpressed. They found the narrative disjointed, contradictory, hard to follow and simply not interesting enough. Reconciling the two worlds (after-life and living) was hard work and the concatenation (Joan’s new word) of the dialogue disruptive to the story, such as it was. The lack of information on the Lincolns and their life was a disappointment for some. They would have liked more here. We believe many readers would have hoped, and expected, a fuller picture of the president and his family. This could explain some of the unfortunate ratings on literature social media.There were some positive comments though. Most found some of the longer prose excellent and the whole idea quite clever. It was felt that Saunders writing carried the story well, but overall the book lacked something fundamental in its structure. Unfortunately, no one was really sure exactly what was missing … only that the void was there and regrettably, most of us fell into it.
    • 3/5
      I wanted to really like this book; but I didn't. I wanted to really hate this book and quit reading it; but I couldn't. The bardo is the Tibetan place where souls go before they enter paradise, depending upon how good or bad you were in your earthly life--sort of like purgatory. The entire action of this story takes place in the time span of one day, the day little Willie Lincoln died. The author juxtaposes chapters by having one chapter of conversation between the occupants of the bardo and the next chapter being quotes or snippets from magazine or newspaper articles read with detailed citations. I listened to this on audio and this is what I heard: "Willie Lincoln's face was so red it was almost purple. From: A Close Friend's Memoir, Helen Davies Estate, used by permission of the Estate." Every single sentence was ended with the citation--what a way to kill a story! (for me). I felt I was reading a history book instead of a novel. I did read where the author had heretofore written short stories, so that is perhaps why I did not find a real discernible plot. All in all though, it was not bad enough for me to put down. Disappointed to learn this was a prize-winning book. 368 pages (7 hours, 25 minutes)
    • 5/5
      A magnificent read. Abe Lincoln's son passes away and this takes place at the time of death and shortly thereafter. Lincoln visits his son's body in the mausoleum. The author refers to letters and references made at the time about the incident and Lincoln's sadness. Most of the story is about the "ghosts" who have not passed on and live in the cemetery. The interaction of the ghosts is sometimes funny but most times reflect the lost soul.
    • 5/5
      I have never read anything like it. It is truly amazing. I almost gave up in the first 30 pages or so, but I decided to forge ahead, expecting that something great was going on, and I was right. The passages where Lincoln himself is thinking, struggling in his mind, are the most poignant to me.
    • 4/5
      I've already noted the Saundersization of short fiction in recent years. I can't imagine anyone trying to emulate what he's done with this novel. Written almost as a screenplay with every paragraph assigned to a different speaker, this is a wacky and heartbreaking tale of the afterlife as experienced by Abraham Lincoln's son. This won't be for everyone, but it's a terrific riff on life, death, war, slavery and fatherhood that is never boring, often hilarious and quite without peer.
    • 2/5
      A creative, unique book but I did not enjoy it.
    • 5/5
      Wow, well written. Whether you love the book or hate it. It is a masterpiece of research and writing!
    • 3/5
      -- LINCOLN IN THE BARDO is a play/historical fiction/research paper hybrid. If I had known from page one a sick box is a coffin & all characters (except Pres. & Mrs. Lincoln & watchmen) are dead story would have been more comprehensible. Many pages contain blank space so novel reads quickly. I'll turn to whodunit author Margaret Truman for my Washington, D.C. fiction fixes. --
    • 3/5
      Given the rave reviews this book has received, I feel like I'm about to commit literary blasphemy by suggesting that it just didn't "do it" for me. True, Saunders' work is incredibly innovative. I love the concept. The writing in some sections is enchanting. Hence, my three stars. But I found "Lincoln in the Bardo" to be a laborious read. I just didn't connect with most of the characters. I would have loved to have seen the result if Saunders had pursued this wonderfully creative story line with perhaps 10 or 12 key characters.
    • 4/5
      The book is like riding on the Haunted House Disney ride and Presidents Show at the same time. I thoroughly was entertained, found the juxtaposition of President Lincoln's grief and the curiously bizarre "sick" in the cemetery quite amusing and introspective as they deal with regret and retrospection. Willie's innocence yet being kept/"punished" because of his loyalty and love for his father has the redemption resolution one would expect. I would like to "sit with" this
    • 2/5
      This seems more like a stunt than a novel, from the structure of the book to the inclusion of Abraham Lincoln. Using a farrago of voices to tell his tale was for me only interesting when the author seemed to be using actual historical citations. I liked the parallels and contradictions in the various people's opinions even on something as simple as Lincoln's eye color. The purely fictionalized bits with the ghosts were lyrical at times, but mostly served to show the practicality of plays and screenplays in putting the name of the speaker before his or her lines.

      Unfortunately, most of the speakers were people I didn't really care to know. The fact that they were dead and that characters would say other characters' lines for them served to create an air of aloofness that distanced me from the characters and story events. And frankly, some of the events were pretty darn corny, especially during the ending.

      At least with all the white space on every page this is a quick read. I suppose there is something just in a story about ghosts being so airy and removed and insubstantial.
    • 4/5
      Highly original tale about young Willie Lincoln's time spent in the cemetery/purgatory (the Bardo). The format switches from historical clippings woven together to create the backstory to Saunder's original text which is dialogue between ghosts in the cemetery. The best part: they don't know they are dead. It's a heartfelt, moving story with intriguing characters and an interesting take on Lincoln's development and motivation as President.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant! Delightful! Reads like a theatrical script which brought the characters to life, both fictional and nonfictional.
    • 5/5
      Wow. I’ve seen lots of rave reviews for Lincoln in the Bardo, and also quite a lot of people who didn’t like it due to an unusual format and difficulty following all of the characters.

      I thought it was brilliant. I loved the humor, the ghostly characters, and this different look at a precise point in history. I didn’t know Lincoln had lost a son while in office. Imagine dealing with that loss while at the same time overseeing a war in which thousands of Americans were expected to sacrifice their own sons, brothers, and fathers?

      Beautifully done George Saunders. I’ll be looking for some of your other books.
    • 4/5
      Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction’s ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?Lincoln in the Bardo takes place in the graveyard where Abraham Lincoln’s son was interred after he died of typhoid when he was just eleven years old. The graveyard is full of ghosts who are not aware that they are dead. They think that they have fallen ill and their bodies are lying in “sick boxes” (coffins), while they recover. Willie’s arrival shakes things up. When his father comes shortly after Willie gets there, he shocks the ghosts by cradling Willie’s body. None of them have had their bodies touched since they have been “sick.” Also, usually children pass through without stopping but Willie’s spirit hangs around because his father said he would be back to visit him again. The other ghosts must figure out how to convince Willie to move along so he doesn’t get stuck forever.Lincoln in the Bardo was one of my book club’s selections. It has a huge cast of characters that was difficult for some of us, including me, to keep straight. Each ghost had some aspect of their appearance that was a reflection of who they were as a person. Sometimes it was hard to figure out what their appearance was supposed to symbolize. Talking it through it in book club helped.Saunders includes real news clippings and interviews from the time period in which Willie died. It’s interesting how widely the first person accounts of the events surrounding Willie’s death differ. Some recall that there was a big, beautiful moon the night Willie died, while others say there was no moon at all. Some say Lincoln was extremely homely, some say he was handsome, and so on. Seeing these quotes juxtaposed against one another could be quite humorous. There was a dry humor about the way the ghosts spoke to one another as well that kept the book from being too melancholy.A few of my book club friends listened to the audio version of this book and said that it was easier to follow than reading it in print so I decided to listen to it as well. They were right; I found it easier to follow. Some of that probably had to do with the fact that I had already read it in print but I think it also helped that each character is voiced by a different actor. There are 166 narrators in all! Some of them are famous actors. David Sedaris is one of the main characters and we all know he is fabulous. Some of the other characters are read by Bill Hader, Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman just to name a few. I definitely enjoyed the audiobook version more. If you decide to read this book, I recommend listening to the audiobook.I had the opportunity to hear Saunders speak at an author event in my city. If you ever get the chance to see him, do it. He has a great sense of humor and his talk was really funny. He also gave us some great tips on writing that I thought were no nonsense and realistic. Some authors can sound pretentious when they talk about their process but he was very down to earth. I wish I would have gotten my book signed but the line was super long. He’s very popular!Opinions varied widely at book club. Some thought Lincoln in the Bardo was one of the best books they’d ever read and some didn’t care for it at all. I fall somewhere in the middle. It’s such an unusual book that I think you need to give it a try. Let me know what you think after you read/listen to it.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant! This debut novel by established short story master, George Saunders, is a masterful treatment of grief and letting go. The reader is presented with parallel tales. One is the historically accurate death of Abraham Lincoln's 11 year old son, Willy. The other is the tale of souls stuck in the bardo, a form of purgatory in which souls must remain until willing to accept their death, let go of life, and enter into the unknown beyond. Set at the early stages of the Civil War, there are parallel notions of battle, for one's soul and for victory. I thought it was a brilliant literary achievement!
    • 5/5
      Soon after the Civil War began, President Lincoln's young son, Willie, was taken seriously ill and tragically died. The night of the burial, the distraught President visited his son in his burial crypt. From this historically accurate moment, Saunders' cemetery ghosts begin to tell their own stories. They witness Lincoln's raw grief and love and attempt to help young Willie leave their land of limbo and cross over to the other side.The action takes place in one night and is told in various voices in a stream of consciousness style. That style may turn off some readers, but for the adventurous reader, it's a marvelous treat that's both wildly imaginative and heartbreaking. Can an author known for his short stories write longer fiction? In this case, a resounding yes. I can't wait to listen to the multi-voiced audio version. 5 stars
    • 5/5
      This was a book-club selection that I was afraid to start reading, because from the descriptions I read I thought it would be the kind of chilly experimental fiction I usually avoid. I was so wrong. After a rough start, during which I just had to resign myself to being confused, I found it one of the most moving books I've read in years. For those who don't know, the premise is that a distraught President Lincoln comes to visit the crypt housing the body of his young son Willie, who died of typhoid. Unbeknownst to Lincoln, the graveyard is populated by residents of the Bardo, a concept from Eastern religion but essential a kind of purgatory or halfway house for the dead who have refused to transition. Willie himself, after the first visit from his father, decides to stay in the Bardo, and all the others band together to help him leave, knowing that children in the Bardo meet a gruesome fate. I know this all sounds strange, but the book was sometimes very funny, sometimes grotesque, often poignant and sad. When people make the decision to leave the Bardo, their exit was beautiful, and for all the grief, regret, and anger expressed by the Bardo residents, there is a thread of love and hope that makes the book an oddly uplifting read.
    • 5/5
      In the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln's son Willie dies of a fever. Lincoln is almost overwhelmed as he struggles with his personal grief as well as his national grief over the countless deaths of those over whom he is commander in chief.We see this from the perspective of the ghosts that inhabit the graveyard where young Willy lies and where Abraham Lincoln visits by night. The ghosts all have their stories, which they carry with them into death and affect their physical manifestations.I thought this was a moving portrait of Lincoln's grief and an interesting look at the Bardo, which according toa dictionary.com definition is ' a Tibetan Buddhism word for a state of existence between death and rebirth, varying in length according to a person's conduct in life and manner of, or age at, death'. However, having several times seen the play Our Town which follows a newly deceased young wife and the other inhabitants of a grave yard, I didn't think this was quite as innovative as others have commented. I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved the ensemble cast with 166 readers including David Sedaris, Ben Stiller, Susan Sarndon and so many more. Apparently the publisher has applied to the Guinness Book of World Records for 'The Largest Cast for an Audiobook'.