John Wayne: A Novel

by Dan Barden

In this immensely captivating and imaginative novel, perfectly set at the intersection of fact and fiction, Dan Barden superimposes the story of John Wayne on the story of the Bardens, a family very much like his own. Frank Barden, Wayne's contractor, is an Irish Catholic from New York who has come to California in pursuit of the American dream for his wife, Lillian, and their three young children, Danny, Alice, and Chris. Wayne is someone the Bardens work with, drink with, and felt blessed to be around.

In fictionalized episodes ranging from Wayne's first love at sixteen to his deathbed conversion to Catholicism, this novel offers a surprisingly intimate vision of John Wayne. The Bardens are the perfect observers, guileless enough to retain an unabashed admiration for a man they consider a hero, perceptive enough to begin to see him as he really is--a man struggling to come to terms with the myths that define him.

In their own way, the Bardens are coming to terms with these same myths. Frank Barden, trapped by alcoholism and the masculine ideal embodied by his friend Wayne, begins to lose touch with his family. Lillian Barden, disappointed by the impossible promise of the men around her, questions her faith in the manhood that men like Frank have to offer. As John Wayne lies on his deathbed at the close of this heartbreaking story, the Barden children have grown up, and Lillian and Frank are facing the dissolution of their marriage. With wit, intelligence and sympathy, Dan Barden "manages at once to humanize John Wayne and to expose the mythmaking apparatus that is as vital to American family life as it is to American cultural life" (Jennifer Egan).

196 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 1997

Reviews

[Tony Tower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I found this book nothing special - rather lacking, in fact. But the chapter imagining Henry Fonda visiting Wayne on his deathbed was tremendous - made keeping the whole book worthwhile. Get the book from the library if you can, and decide for yourself.

[Timothy Bazzett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read JOHN WAYNE: A NOVEL when it was new, so that's probably 14-15 years ago, and I loved it. Not because I was such a huge fan of the Duke. In fact I thought some of his films were pure hokum. But some were great too: The Quiet Man, The Searchers, and my favorite, and the Duke's last, The Shootist. The thing is Barden's novel wasn't meant to be about Wayne. It was about the narrator, Danny, and his family. And that element I found absorbing and moving. And, just as a postscript, I then went and read a couple different bios of John Wayne. One of them, I forget which one, held an extremely sad and descriptive account of Wayne's final days, wasted away and dying of cancer.

But Barden's no doubt very autobiographical novel was, I thought, very thoughtful and GOOD. So now, looking at some Amazon reviews of the book, I can't quite understand those readers' negative responses. I suspect many of them wanted a hagiography of the Duke's life. No such luck. He was just a man, like all the rest of it. And Barden, I suspect, told it the way he remembered it. And told it well.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story about the man behind the lights, camera and action. The chance to see him in the eyes of someone who knew him as his Dad's friend first, then a star.