A Calling for Charlie Barnes

The hilarious and profound novel from National Book Award finalist Joshua Ferris is about an American family in all messy forms—and one man at the head of it.

“A fine American novel about family, love, and a decent but flawed man trying to be better." —Stephen King

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. With help from his storyteller son, he surveys the facts of his life and finds his true calling where he least expects it—in a sacrifice that redounds with selflessness and love—at last becoming the man his son always knew he could be.

A Calling for Charlie Barnes is a profound and tender portrait of a man whose desperate need to be loved is his downfall, and a brutally funny account of how that love is ultimately earned.

Named a best book of the year by NPR, Vogue, and the New York Times Book Review

“A masterpiece that shines a revealing light on both family and fiction itself.” —Michael Schaub, NPR​