Black Dog of Fate

A Memoir

By: Peter Balakian

Narrated by: Peter Balakian

The first-born son of his generation, Peter Balakian grew up in a close, extended family, sheltered by 1950s and '60s New Jersey suburbia. He was immersed in an all-American boyhood defined by rock 'n' roll, adolescent pranks, and a passion for the New York Yankees that he shared with his beloved grandmother. But beneath this sunny world lay the dark specter of the trauma his family and ancestors had experienced: the Turkish government's extermination of more than a million Armenians in 1915, including many of Balakian's relatives, in the century's first genocide.

In elegant, moving prose, Black Dog of Fate charts Balakian's growth and personal awakening to the facts of his family's history and the horrifying aftermath of the Turkish government's continued campaign to cover up one of the worst crimes ever committed against humanity. In unearthing the secrets of a family's past and how they affect its present, Black Dog of Fate gives fresh meaning to the story of what it means to be an American.

©1998 Peter Balakian (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A rare work of seasoned introspection, haunting beauty, and high moral seriousness." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Balakian writes with power and poignancy, confronting his past with justified outrage and transforming that outrage into art." ( Library Journal)

Amazing storytelling - for an amazing story

Peter Balakian was able to recreate for the reader his own experience of discovery - of his family’s past and the terrifying and wonderful past of the Armenian people. The book asks: how could this genocide have happened—in full view of the world? How, in the face of the thousands of eyewitness accounts, is the silence and denial of governments entangled in geopolitical interests allowed to persist? These questions hang in the air for all of us, unanswered, like the ghosts of the unacknowledged and unburied.

Eh

Eh, it was alright. I had to read it for school and audible helps. Kind of boring but it was interesting to learn about some of the stuff about the genocide.

couldn't put it down

this is last time I read an author-narrated book. the reading was infuriatingly bad. but in spite of his horrible & distracting phrasing, the story was so compelling that I read it straight thru. wonderfully written, lovely combination of personal family and graphic historical account of the Armenian experience.

A story of a people’s survival against all odds.

The writer manages to intertwine the ordinary life of a seemingly ordinary American growing up in suburbia with the culture and dark history of his people—one which the reader is discovering and deciphering alongside the writer. This is an important subject, thoroughly researched and put in historic context. For anyone wishing to educate themselves about the history of the Armenian people, the barbarism of the Ottoman Empire, the often unknown tragedies that unfolded under the shadows of the First World War, the complicity of the current Turkish government, or about the unspeakable depths human of depravity while committing crimes of genocide, this is a very important, though often difficult read.
The writer’s narration lacks any performative elements, and is unfortunately mundane and even a bit annoying. His attempts at pronouncing Armenian words and names was so belabored, it was almost frustrating, since I’ve heard non-Armenians do a much better job of it. This may only register for Armenian speakers, since I imagine that others wouldn’t even know how comically “Americanized” Balakian’s pronunciations of even his own family members’ names were. I realized early on, at least for me, this would’ve been a much better read than a listen..but I stuck through it anyhow. My advice: Absolutely read it. Listen to it if you must. But, in no case, turn away from this poignant memoir. Trigger warning: for tender-hearted readers, the depictions of brutality, rape, mass murder, child abuse, and many more unspeakable crimes against humanity are exceedingly graphic and were almost too difficult for me, even though I am familiar with this history. Steel yourself.

Great book!

If you could sum up Black Dog of Fate in three words, what would they be?

Memoir
History
Shocking

Who was your favorite character and why?

Peter

What about Peter Balakian’s performance did you like?

Poetic intensity

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

. . . and you thought "Stand By Me" was a good story!

Any additional comments?

Loved it

Author /reader?

What did you love best about Black Dog of Fate?

I could not get past the reader's tedious monotone...if I had not needed to finish this book for a book group, I never would have made it to the end. I wanted to put it down after an hour.

Story everyone should read

It's been years that I had purchased the hard copy of Balakian 's book but unfortunately I've never read it. The audio version helped me to finish it in one week. Very convenient, even though sometimes I had to redo my make up. Thanks Balakian for writing this memoir to keep your grandmother' s and your people story alive.

i will read this one...difficult to listen to

What did you like best about Black Dog of Fate? What did you like least?

I have been waiting to listen to this book for a long time. Finally, it was the right time and I downloaded it. And, the author is not the person to read this. He makes it too much of a poem and the cadence is difficult.

One of the best

I found Peter Balakian’s Black Dog of Fate to be one of the best memoirs I’ve read/listened to. As a third generation descendant of Armenian genocide survivors, this was the first time that someone had to put words to my own experience growing up in the diaspora. His words touched me so deeply, I could hardly get through the last few chapters without being moved to tears. While it might be difficult for those who did not grow up American to relate to Balakian’s depictions of American culture, I highly recommend this memoir to anyone interested in learning about the Armenian genocide. Balakian does an excellent job weaving historical facts into personal narrative; I appreciate the extensive research that went into writing this book. A must read for those who are interested in learning about the first genocide of the 20th century & Turkey’s systematic denial of committing the most atrocious crime against humanity of modern history. Trigger warning: some of his depictions retold by eye witnesses are quite explicit.

This was a privilege, thank you Peter Balakian

I loved every second of this book, and narration I’d recommend it to everyone. It spanned an increasingly geography, time, places. This is an incredible piece of a living history of our collective humanity.