The Dakota Winters

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By turns hilarious and poignant, The Dakota Winters is a family drama, a page-turning social novel, and a tale of a critical moment in the history of New York City in the year leading up to John Lennons assassination.
Conjures a gritty, populous, affectionate portrait of 1979 New York City Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach

Its the fall of 1979 when 23-year-old Anton Winter, back from the Peace Corps and on the mend from a nasty bout of malaria, returns to his childhood home in the Dakota in New York City. Antons father, the famous late-night host Buddy Winter is there to greet him, himself recovering from a breakdown. Before long Anton is swept up in an effort to reignite Buddys stalled career, a mission that takes him from the gritty streets of New York, to the slopes of the Lake Placid Olympics, to the Hollywood Hills, to the blue waters of the Bermuda Triangle, and brings him into close quarters with the likes of Johnny Carson, Ted and Joan Kennedy, and a seagoing John Lennon.

But the more Anton finds himself enmeshed in his fathers professional and spiritual reinvention, the more he questions his own path, and fissures in the Winter family begin to threaten their close bond.

Deft, funny, touching, and sharply observed,a marvel of tone, anda skillful evocation of a dark passage in the history of New York City, when all the fearful ironies of the world we live in now first came stalking into view Michael Chabon, author of Moonglow

This is a crazily charming novel I wanted to begin a new life in these pages, with these characters. I wanted to trade worlds with them. This is a wise and seductive story that feels truer than true, as only the very finest fiction does Walter Kirn, author of Up in the Air

A thought-provoking time capsule if you were a fan of TVs Mad Men, you might very well love this novel as much as I did Wally Lamb, author of Shes Come Undone

Reviews

Nostalgia for a grittier New York City suffuses this father-sonodyssey, set in the year leading up to John Lennons murder . . .Funny and keenly observed. * Mail on Sunday *
Dark and humourous . . . Thoroughly enjoyable. * Spectator *
About fathers and sons, the perniciousness of fame and thechallenge of second acts . . . Barbash recreates an inviting world.And he observes clearly the human tendency to turn people intoidols, only to topple them. * The Economist *
Excellent . . . At its heart, this is a story about family bonds anda pivotal time in New York. * Rolling Stone *
Arresting . . . Barbash has vividly captured the end times feelingof this period in America and has populated his sad and funnytale with a highly engaging mix of real people and fictionalcharacters . . . Barbash has sprinkled The Dakota Winters withBeatle dust. Lennon is alive in its pages. * New York Times Book Review *
You can practically hear Lennons signature cackle, feel thetickle of his ponytailed hair, smell the salt air. * Washington Post *
A beautiful, evocative novel of family devotion, celebrity,downfall and survival, framed by the political and culturalupheavals of America on the cusp of a new decade. Irresistiblytender. * Library Journal *
Punctuated by clever dialogue and crisp social critiques,Barbashs incisive, funny and poignant portrait of talentedpeople and a city in flux illuminates the risks of celebrity and thestruggle to become ones true self. * Booklist *
Seamlessly mingling historical figures with invented ones, TomBarbash conjures a gritty, populous, affectionate portrait of 1979New York City: the site of his subtly captivating paean to filiallove. -- Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach
Deft, funny, touching and sharply observed, a marvel of tone,and a skillful evocation of a dark passage in the history of NewYork City, when all the fearful ironies of the world we live innow first came stalking into view. -- Michael Chabon, author of Moonglow
This is a crazily charming novel . . . I wanted to begin a new lifein these pages, with these characters. I wanted to trade worldswith them. This is a wise and seductive story that feels truer thantrue, as only the very finest fiction does. -- Walter Kirn, author of Up in the Air
A thought-provoking time capsule . . . if you were a fan of TVsMad Men, you might very well love this novel as much as I did.
-- Wally Lamb, author of Shes Come Undone

Author Bio

Tom Barbash is the author of the award-winning novel The Last Good Chance and the New York Times non-fiction bestseller, On Top of the World. His stories and articles have been published in Tin House, McSweeney's, VQR and other publications, and have been performed on US National Public Radio. Raised in Manhattan, he currently lives in California.