Comments on: A Dancing Bear

By: bookmarc

bookmarc — Fri, 27 May 2011 05:47:26 +0000

This is one of the funniest books I have come across and it is wonderful to have some laconic Australian dry wit in the Podiobook fraternity at last. It is intelligently written, expresses a lot of concepts I thoroughly endorse, (apart perhaps from terrorism, murder, sexual violence and not taking out the garbage) and treats the English language with respect. Just the way I like it…I hope there is more in the pipeline. On a scale of five I give it a five and a half.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:36:05 +0000

This book is absolutely hilarious! I’ve never really had any trouble with accents, so the wordplay in the first chapter hooked me right off of the bat.

I’ve yet to meet the end of the novel, but here’s what I think so far:

A Dancing Bear is like taking Palahniuk from Fight Club, mixing in some Don Delilo in White Noise, and then punching an Auzzie in the face with some Kilgore Trout from Vonnegut. It is absurd, to the max, and the awkwardness is palpable (in a good way).

The whole story is a great runaway disaster, and the hyperbole in the language of the narration speaks more truth than is comfortable (once again, in a good way). The narration is so wonderfully ironic, and that is before taking account of the actual person narrating it.

All in all, this book is awesome. Read it. Listen to it. Laugh out loud. Pay the author. Great stuff, David. Keep it up.

By: Esther

Esther — Thu, 07 May 2009 07:50:51 +0000

It took me a while to relax into the strong Oz accent and bland style of narration but it was worth waiting. This is one of the best audio books I have listened too.
It has style, a solid plot, a great sense of humour and makes excellent use of the English language.

By: David

David — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:27:41 +0000

Appreciate it Per Ove – Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for taking the time to comment.

By: per ove sleen

per ove sleen — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:17:01 +0000

Thank you very much for writing this incredible story, and for reading it aloud for us….just incredible…thanks man!!

POS

By: David

David — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:11:24 +0000

Thanks again to everyone who’s taken the trouble to leave ratings and comments – I appreciate every one of them (and hope for more in the future!) Anyway, in case people are interested, I’m now blogging at http://adancingbearblog.blogspot.com/
Please drop by and leave a comment.

By: David

David — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:20:20 +0000

Many thanks Mark – it can make an writer’s day, waking up to a comment like that. And thanks for letting me know that my campaign over at Clive’s site is bearing some fruit!

By: Mark R

Mark R — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:46:11 +0000

David, Thanks for the enjoyment your book has given me. I have just finished listening to the pod version. My (now distant) memories of thoughts and women and university were brought wonderfully back to life in Fenton’s internal monologues. I discovered your book via an advert while in Clive James’ website and connected immediately with the lunacy of a world where Ivan Lego is seen as important and words don’t matter. As one of the previous posts comments, I too laughed out loud at many points. I also enjoyed your satirical “roasting” of literary theory and of the current tendency to jump to wild conclusions from trivial evidence (Fenton’s flat and the police contention that Aggot had been there). Well done and thanks.

By: David

David — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:06:19 +0000

It’s really nice to hear that, APT – thanks for taking the time to drop by and say so.

By: APTasha

APTasha — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:24:41 +0000

Its now been over a year since I listened to this book, and every now and then my thoughts wonder back to different parts of this story. Very few books stick with me like that. Good job Mr. Free.

By: David Free

David Free — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:06:18 +0000

Thanks guys – I always appreciate thoughtful feedback – the more detailed, the better! Brady, I hope those early digressions DID turn out to make sense later on. And Steve, I hope the last half of the book didn’t disappoint …

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:57:29 +0000

Up to chapter 14 now. I am probably what you would call a podiobook junkie. Have listened to probably 50 or so now, some outstanding, some not so much. But I can honestly say yours is the first one to make me laugh out loud several times an episode. Sure, others have put a smile on my face, even a big grin, but none have made me need to pause the playback to have a good guffaw, until now. Thank you David Free, I truely love your humour and would give your book 6 out of 5 stars if I could.

By: BradyDale

BradyDale — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 02:56:28 +0000

I listened to chapters 1-4 today while cleaning. This is some good stuff. My favorite part is the way he really skewers the left and academia. As an active member of the former, I appreciate his apparent familiarity with some of our more silly behaviors. We need the satire! Fair warning to listeners… while I personally like it… the author is given to long, long descriptions. He’s also given to pretty elaborate digressions. Maybe they’ll all turn out to be critical later, I don’t know. I don’t mind a meandering text so long as all it’s component parts are fun, but some people get all uptight about that sort of thing.
I hope he has more made up philosophical excerpts. Those are a lot of fun and I’m sure they author had a lot of laughs writing them.

By: David Free

David Free — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:33:16 +0000

Thanks again for the positive remarks, everyone. It may interest you to know that “A Dancing Bear” is now in print, and available from Amazon and a few other online retailers. See my website for details.
David

By: dianne

dianne — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:08:20 +0000

Me again. Its great to see that David’s book has gained some extra attention because it really does deserve it. If anyone hasn’t listened to it yet then it is a must. And be sure to check out the official website for the hypertext.

By: Devon Kappa

Devon Kappa — Mon, 28 May 2007 01:07:13 +0000

Poor Fenton Bland. His life at college is rapidly spiraling out of control. It’s bad enough that he’s stuck in the class of Professor Ivan Lego, whose theory of socioliterology — the concept that any writing is wrongfully oppressive because “it owes its very existence to a foundational act of suppression, namely, the suppression of non-language” — is taking the academic world by storm. It’s even worse that he’s inadvertently given Pamela, a student activist with whom Fenton shares a deep, dark shame, the idea to strike a blow for the disenfranchised by campaigning for the release of a notorious serial killer. Still worse, Fenton’s relationship with his lesbian faux-vegetarian deadbeat housemates is worse than ever (not least because of the dead cat). But worst of all is that the student Maoist group that Fenton joined solely for the purpose of getting close to the beautiful Charmaine is singularly focused on announcing itself by assassinating someone, and Fenton is stuck right in the middle of the plot.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a good sense of what “Maoists” are. Neither do I. Nor, for that matter, do the members of the Maoist group. And that, in a nutshell, is what makes Mark Osher’s delightful A Dancing Bear such a spot-on primer to the college experience. It’s all there: the students whose big plans and grand statements are undermined by their own lack of understanding (and ability). The academics whose outré theories are driven by self-promotion rather than genuine relevance. The everyman stuck in the middle, trying to do what is right but restrained by his own passivity. And, of course, the university public bathrooms (check out the start of Chapter 25).

A Dancing Bear is consistently hilarious, combining effective satire of academic, political and individual pomposity with regular moments of slapstick, laugh-out-loud humor. However, equally impressive is the novel’s philosophical heart. For all of its worthwhile silliness, A Dancing Bear also is concerned with deeper questions that confront all collegians, and, for that matter, all thinking people. Can I steer my life where I want it to go? Or am I locked in to a path set by outside forces or simple inertia? What would it take to change my life? A Dancing Bear seamlessly works these weighty themes into its rollicking tale, ultimately proving satisfying on many levels.

By: dmitry

dmitry — Tue, 15 May 2007 03:22:04 +0000

Saturatingly funny, and yet u cant have enough of it; each phrase, each incident is to be savored. Dont listen to this in public places or while commuting! You ll make a fool of yourselves by the sounds of swallowed guffaws.

By: David Free

David Free — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:15:52 +0000

This is the author, just leaving a quick note to thank you good people who have taken the trouble to leave your responses. I welcome all feedback, but must admit I have a weakness for the positive kind. Especially I should thank Dianne, who drew my attention to the podiobooks site in the first place – without her there would never have been a pod version.
David

By: fazakerley

fazakerley — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:10:05 +0000

Just finished the final chapter, what a great book! Well written, well read.
Thanks for a great time David!
-Jon

By: Etan Ben-Ami

Etan Ben-Ami — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 06:25:14 +0000

Osher / Free — If there’s anyone writing today who can equal your sense of language, your eye for the darkly absurd in life, and your satiric wit generally, they must be in hiding. I will be truly disappointed if you don’t write a second novel.

– Etan