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The Friend
eBook - 2018
WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF THE VIEW'S SUMMER READ 2019 PICKS!
"A beautiful book ... a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love." --Wall Street Journal
"A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory...Nunez has a wry, withering wit." --NPR
"Dry, allusive and charming...the comedy here writes itself." The New York Times
A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.
When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.
While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.
Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF THE VIEW'S SUMMER READ 2019 PICKS!
"A beautiful book ... a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love." --Wall Street Journal
"A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory...Nunez has a wry, withering wit." --NPR
"Dry, allusive and charming...the comedy here writes itself." The New York Times
A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.
When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.
While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.
Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.
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Publisher:
New York : Riverhead Books, 2018
ISBN:
9780735219465
073521946X
073521946X
Call Number:
EBOOK OVERDRIVE
Characteristics:
1 online resource
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List - Read This! - Writers Read edition: interview with Alexander Chee
SFPL_ReadersAdvisory
Sep 24, 2019
SFPL_ReadersAdvisory
Sep 24, 2019
A title which brought Alexander Chee to tears.
From the critics
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Add a CommentA great read for those that love dry humor, concise sentences, and the use of parenthesis (which I do).
This is a beautifully-written book. It was like I was reading about a friend, and it left me feeling that I wanted a pet like Apollo the Great Dane. I liked this novel a lot.
Be prepared for an in-depth probe of grief if you pick up this book as well as in-depth musings on the writing process and writers. Through this process the author showcases her knowledge of literature and philosophy and bonding with a hulk of a dog. I can’t see how anyone in the midst of grief would find any solace in the book and for the non-grief stricken it was downright depressing.
You could take so much away from this small book. It's about loss and friendship, it's about a dog and the bond between man and animal, but it's also a beautiful book about writing and literature that had me making a new "to be read" list as I made my way through it.
Nice, quick read. A pleasant contemplation on life, death, and grief.
I didn't like the writing style, or the format of, I guess, writing a letter to a friend who died. Couldn't get very far.
Well -- how could I have never known the name of this superlative writer? -- until I last week, when I saw this particular book by Nunez, recommended on the morning TV show.
Winner of the National Book Award for fiction yr 2018 of the National Book Foundation. (USA)
Beautiful, beautiful prose. Tough and tender. Written as a memoir, but categorized as fiction. Go figure. Not a book to dash thru in reading.
I am enchanted by Nunez's lyrical architecture of thought put into words. Such a true story.
It's like taking a canoe ride on the surface of grief, rolling on a perfectly beautiful lake that has parts and pits of of dark, dark swirling waters and surprise tributaries.
And, gigantic Apollo; he's a star, lighting the way along a muddy path.
Smart, thoughtful meditation on writing, mortality, friendship, etc.
Quirky and clever, not generally a reader of fiction, but really enjoyed this short book.
Well-written, light, paean to relationships in all their variety.