
The Dakota Winters
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $21.59
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jim Meskimen
-
By:
-
Tom Barbash
About this listen
An evocative and wildly absorbing novel about the Winters, a family living in New York City’s famed Dakota apartment building in the year leading up to John Lennon’s assassination.
It’s the fall of 1979 in New York City 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. Anton’s 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 Buddy’s 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 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 father’s professional and spiritual reinvention, the more he questions his own path, and fissures in the Winter family begin to threaten their close bond. By turns hilarious and poignant, The Dakota Winters is a family saga, a pause-resisting social novel, and a tale of a critical moment in the history of New York City and the country at large.
©2018 Tom Barbash (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Tiffany Girls
- A Novel
- By: Shelley Noble
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Louis Comfort Tiffany, famous for his stained-glass windows, is planning a unique installation at the Paris World’s Fair, the largest in history. At their fifth-floor studio on Fourth Avenue, the artists of the Women’s Division of the Tiffany Glass Company are already working longer shifts to finish the pieces that Tiffany hopes will prove that he is the world’s finest artist in glass. Known as the “Tiffany Girls,” these women are responsible for much of the design and construction of Tiffany’s extraordinary glassworks, but none receive credit.
-
-
So good
- By John on 07-02-23
By: Shelley Noble
-
Well Behaved Wives
- A Novel
- By: Amy Sue Nathan
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Gail Shalan
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Law school graduate and newlywed Ruth Appelbaum is acclimating to life and marriage in a posh Philadelphia neighborhood. She’ll do almost anything to endear herself to her mother-in-law, who’s already signed up Ruth for etiquette lessons conducted by the impeccably accessorized tutor Lillian Diamond. But Ruth brings something fresh to the small circle of housewives—sharp wit, honesty, and an independent streak that won’t be compromised.
-
-
Excellent
- By nancy M on 12-02-22
By: Amy Sue Nathan
-
Indigo Isle
- By: T. I. Lowe
- Narrated by: Justis Bolding
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sonny Bates left South Carolina fifteen years ago and never looked back. Now she’s a successful Hollywood location scout who travels the world, finding perfect places for movie shoots. Home is wherever she lands, and between her busy schedule and dealing with her boss’s demands, she has little time to think about the past . . . until her latest gig lands her a stone’s throw from everything she left behind.
-
-
Cannot put it down
- By Janice E. Rockwood on 08-19-23
By: T. I. Lowe
-
The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury
- By: Marc Levy, Chris Murray - translator
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice Pendelbury believes everything in her life is pretty much in order - from her good friends to her burgeoning career. But even Alice has to admit it’s been an odd week. Not only has her belligerent neighbor, Mr. Daldry, suddenly become a surprisingly agreeable confidant, but he’s encouraging her to take seriously the fortune-teller who told her that only by traveling to Turkey can Alice meet the most important person in her life. What’s more, the peculiarly insistent Mr. Daldry has even agreed to finance Alice’s trip - one that against all reason seems to be predestined.
-
-
Good story that is marred by poor narrator
- By Granny Rose on 02-26-19
By: Marc Levy, and others
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
By: Rhys Bowen
-
Hula
- A Novel
- By: Jasmin Iolani Hakes
- Narrated by: Mapuana Makia
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand. She’s never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.
-
-
Ua mau ke ea o ka `aina i ka pono
- By Mele65 on 05-12-23
-
The Tiffany Girls
- A Novel
- By: Shelley Noble
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Louis Comfort Tiffany, famous for his stained-glass windows, is planning a unique installation at the Paris World’s Fair, the largest in history. At their fifth-floor studio on Fourth Avenue, the artists of the Women’s Division of the Tiffany Glass Company are already working longer shifts to finish the pieces that Tiffany hopes will prove that he is the world’s finest artist in glass. Known as the “Tiffany Girls,” these women are responsible for much of the design and construction of Tiffany’s extraordinary glassworks, but none receive credit.
-
-
So good
- By John on 07-02-23
By: Shelley Noble
-
Well Behaved Wives
- A Novel
- By: Amy Sue Nathan
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Gail Shalan
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Law school graduate and newlywed Ruth Appelbaum is acclimating to life and marriage in a posh Philadelphia neighborhood. She’ll do almost anything to endear herself to her mother-in-law, who’s already signed up Ruth for etiquette lessons conducted by the impeccably accessorized tutor Lillian Diamond. But Ruth brings something fresh to the small circle of housewives—sharp wit, honesty, and an independent streak that won’t be compromised.
-
-
Excellent
- By nancy M on 12-02-22
By: Amy Sue Nathan
-
Indigo Isle
- By: T. I. Lowe
- Narrated by: Justis Bolding
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sonny Bates left South Carolina fifteen years ago and never looked back. Now she’s a successful Hollywood location scout who travels the world, finding perfect places for movie shoots. Home is wherever she lands, and between her busy schedule and dealing with her boss’s demands, she has little time to think about the past . . . until her latest gig lands her a stone’s throw from everything she left behind.
-
-
Cannot put it down
- By Janice E. Rockwood on 08-19-23
By: T. I. Lowe
-
The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury
- By: Marc Levy, Chris Murray - translator
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice Pendelbury believes everything in her life is pretty much in order - from her good friends to her burgeoning career. But even Alice has to admit it’s been an odd week. Not only has her belligerent neighbor, Mr. Daldry, suddenly become a surprisingly agreeable confidant, but he’s encouraging her to take seriously the fortune-teller who told her that only by traveling to Turkey can Alice meet the most important person in her life. What’s more, the peculiarly insistent Mr. Daldry has even agreed to finance Alice’s trip - one that against all reason seems to be predestined.
-
-
Good story that is marred by poor narrator
- By Granny Rose on 02-26-19
By: Marc Levy, and others
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
By: Rhys Bowen
-
Hula
- A Novel
- By: Jasmin Iolani Hakes
- Narrated by: Mapuana Makia
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand. She’s never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.
-
-
Ua mau ke ea o ka `aina i ka pono
- By Mele65 on 05-12-23
-
I Must Say
- My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend
- By: Martin Short
- Narrated by: Martin Short
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Martin Short takes you on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live and memorable roles in movies such as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride.
-
-
This is what audio books were made for!
- By Ty Brady on 11-06-14
By: Martin Short
-
The Road Towards Home
- A Novel
- By: Corinne Demas
- Narrated by: David de Vries, Erin Bennett
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widower Noah Shilling considers Clarion Court to be less an independent living community and more a prison. But there may be hope for the place yet. The newest resident is bold, eccentric, rule-breaking Cassandra Joyce—whom, as it turns out, Noah met long ago in college. As Noah and Cassandra get reacquainted, major changes at Clarion Court force them both to reevaluate their living situation. When Noah invites Cassandra to rough it with him at his Cape Cod cottage, the old friends must decide whether they should risk embarking on the next stage of their journey together.
-
-
Great read
- By Susan L. Chaplin on 07-06-23
By: Corinne Demas
-
A Week in Winter
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house) and Orla, her niece (a whiz at business), Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House’s big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms.
-
-
Didn't want it to end.....
- By Vicki Unger on 02-26-13
By: Maeve Binchy
-
The Paris Dressmaker
- By: Kristy Cambron
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Lights slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite.
-
-
Excellent in all ways
- By Amazon Customer on 02-23-21
By: Kristy Cambron
-
The Boys from Biloxi
- A Legal Thriller
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: Michael Beck
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia.
-
-
Long and boring
- By ATM on 10-20-22
By: John Grisham
-
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book Set
- By: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
- Narrated by: Arina Ii, Kevin Shen
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would you do if you could travel back in time? Discover the internationally bestselling novels of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, now a worldwide phenomenon and BookTok sensation, in this special new book set. Step inside Tokyo’s whimsical Café Funiculi Funicula and travel back in time with a cast of unforgettable characters.
-
-
very profound, lost in translation?
- By Ashlyn C. on 10-06-23
-
Angels and Demons
- By: Dan Brown
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization, the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra.
-
-
A must for fans of The Da Vinci Code
- By Geoffrey on 04-14-04
By: Dan Brown
-
Miss Eliza's English Kitchen
- A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship
- By: Annabel Abbs
- Narrated by: Ell Potter, Bianca Amato
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1835. London is awash with thrilling new ingredients, from rare spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. When Eliza Acton is told by her publisher to write a cookery book instead of the poetry she loves, she refuses - until her bankrupt father is forced to flee the country. As a woman, Eliza has few options. Although she’s never set foot in a kitchen, she begins collecting recipes and teaching herself to cook. Much to her surprise, she discovers a talent - and a passion - for the culinary arts.
-
-
A gem!
- By Sara Shirley on 01-04-22
By: Annabel Abbs
-
A Life in Parts
- By: Bryan Cranston
- Narrated by: Bryan Cranston
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryan Cranston landed his first role at seven, when his father, a struggling actor and director, cast him in a United Way commercial. Soon Bryan was haunting the local movie theater, memorizing and reenacting favorite scenes with his older brother. Acting was clearly the boy's destiny - until one day his father disappeared. Suddenly destiny took a backseat to survival. Seeking something more stable, perhaps subconsciously trying to distance himself from his absent father, Cranston decided on a career in law enforcement.
-
-
They're all good parts.
- By Shopsfromeverywhere on 10-23-16
By: Bryan Cranston
-
Big Lies in a Small Town
- A Novel
- By: Diane Chamberlain
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, her dream of a career in art is put on hold - until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will get her released from prison immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy Southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to be free, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.
-
-
5++++🌟
- By kimberly U on 01-18-20
-
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets.
-
-
Another Kate Atkinson multi-generational story
- By Satisfied Customer on 11-08-18
By: Kate Atkinson
-
What the Wind Knows
- By: Amy Harmon
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time. The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar.
-
-
A Captivating Historical Romance!
- By Melanie on 03-04-19
By: Amy Harmon

Editor's Pick
A great novel for your holiday travels
"If you have been following my monthly selections in 2018 (Of course you are. Kidding...sort of.), you may have noticed that I rarely choose fiction; however, for the last month of the year I wanted something that was going to allow me to just relax and become enveloped in a strong story. Author Tom Barbash and narrator Jim Meskimen delivered. Equal parts period piece, coming-of-age story, and family saga, The Dakota Winters tells the dual stories of Anton and Buddy Winter. Anton is a young man trying to find his way in early '80s New York, and his father, Buddy, is trying to make his way back to the top of the entertainment industry after a very public meltdown. Along the way we are taken to frigid Lake Placid and across the Atlantic Ocean—with none other than the Dakota’s most famous former resident, John Lennon. If you are looking for a listen that is not short on depth or wry humor, look no further."—Kyle S., Audible Editor
What listeners say about The Dakota Winters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 05-27-20
This one is in my top 5 for 2020
I loved it !
the narrator was excellent! the voices were not just different they were impersonations.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DFW
- 12-29-18
Forgot that it is a work of fiction!
This one reads like a bio. So much that I forgot that much of this is not fact. It's very entertaining and I even had to google Buddy Winters just to make sure that there wasn't really such a person.
Good going, Tom Barbash. Loved it!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KellysHero718
- 05-06-23
Excellent, But....
I like historical fiction, and this book is wonderfully written, but the gap between history and fiction is too great. Worse than Forest Gump, which I wouldn't have thought possible. The research is obviously top-notch, and there is a lot of name-dropping, people and places and companies and bands, that provide context. The basic outline of John Lennon's life during the Dakota years is fairly accurate, but the author got too carried away with that aspect of the story. It felt more of a sacrilege than anything else. Otherwise, the book is excellent, as is the narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeff Ferre
- 01-27-19
Excellent! Very original!
Well written with a great mix of truth, fiction and a tender story of family and personal discovery.
The narrator was exceptional! Easy to listen to and really inhabited the story. He also did spot on accents and impersonations without being cheesy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carol A. Hanselman
- 03-19-19
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I was hooked. i live in New York, the descriptions of places I could picture easily. I was a bit nostalgic.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Aileen
- 12-13-18
Wonderful reading,love John Lennon as a character
Such a delightful creative read i just purchased his other two books. If you lived through the 70s in MY you will get goosebumps.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joanna Green
- 03-16-19
Story was interesting but anticlimactic,
Book was anticlimactic, I guess because we all know what happens to John in the end. I loved the characters and I love John. Exactly how i would want to remember him. Good story just not dramatic enough I guess. Nice listen. Thank you
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Judy
- 06-24-19
WAAAY more than expected
A bit of a domestic potboiler, and more about '80's and '90's east coast/NYC/show biz culture/privileged coming of age than about the Dakota per se - but that was totally OK by me. Includes a bunch of quasi-fictional/who-knows glimpses of Lennon's last months, but nothing soppy or prescient, and very little Yoko. May just be me, but thank you, Tom, for that.
Jim Meskimen gets two thumbs-up on voice acting: to my ear, he nailed every dialect and differentiated gender/age/geographic origin without sliding into stereotype or hyperbole.
This book had languished in my wish list for a couple months, but I pulled it out when I realized I hadn't listened for months to anything that didn't hinge on murder(s) or the obliteration of an entire world/species. Geez - time for something a little lighter, right?
Born before 1960? Give Dakota Winters a whirl for the nostalgia of life before cell phones, Twitter and the 24/7/365 news cycle and a brisk trot down Penny Lane.
Born afterwards? Listen, and be amazed that somehow, human kind has thus far prevailed, regardless.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JoAnn
- 12-22-22
Interesting Back Story
Really enjoyed the story of the Winters entwined with celebrity. Anyone over 50 would enjoy this era and know who they are talking about.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Oklahoma Lady
- 03-21-19
No Plot At All Really
But when I was halfway through the book I finally realized there was no plot....it was just meandering through misc. history, true or not, I don't know. But once I realized it wasn't really going anywhere I just enjoyed the story and didn't stress out if I missed a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful