About the Book
Brian McGrory's life changed drastically after the death of his beloved dog, Harry: he fell in love with Pam, Harry's veterinarian. Though Brian's only responsibility used to be his adored Harry, Pam came with accessories that could not have been more exotic to the city-loving bachelor: a home in suburbia, two young daughters, two dogs, two cats, two rabbits, and a portly, snow white, red-crowned-and-wattled step-rooster named Buddy. While Buddy loves the women of the house, he takes Brian's presence as an affront, doing everything he can to drive out his rival. Initially resistant to elements of his new life and to the loud, aggressive rooster (who stares menacingly, pecks threateningly, and is constantly poised to attack), Brian eventually sees that Buddy shares the kind of extraordinary relationship with Pam and her two girls that he wants for himself. The rooster is what Brian needs to be--strong and content, devoted to what he has rather than what might be missing. As he learns how to live by living with animals, Buddy, Brian's nemesis, becomes Brian's inspiration, in this inherently human story of love, acceptance, and change.In the tradition of bestsellers like Marley and Me, Dewey, and The Tender Bar comes a heartwarming and wise tale of finding love in life's second chapter--and how it means all the more when you have to fight for it.
About the Author :
Brian McGrory is a longtime newspaper reporter, editor, and columnist. Born and raised in and around Boston, he is a graduate of Bates College in Maine. He has worked for the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, the New Haven Register in Connecticut, and has written for and edited the Boston Globe since 1989. He has a twice weekly column that appears on the front of the metro section, for which he has won the Scripps Howard journalism award. He also the author of four novels: Strangled, Dead Line, The Nominee, and The Incumbent. Brian lives in Massachusetts with his family. Working in every genre, Johnny Heller has narrated over seven hundred audiobooks. He is a 2005 and 2009 Audie Award winner, a double nominee in 2015, a 2014 nominee for Best Male Narrator, a double nominee in 2012 and was named a Best Voice of 2008-2011, 2014, 2015 and a Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award Winner 2008-2013. A winner of over twenty-five AudioFile Earphones Awards, AudioFile magazine named Heller one of the top fifty voices of the twentieth century. Johnny coaches actors in audiobook narration and commercial voice-over locally, nationally and internationally. Working in every genre, Johnny Heller has narrated over seven hundred audiobooks. He is a 2005 and 2009 Audie Award winner, a double nominee in 2015, a 2014 nominee for Best Male Narrator, a double nominee in 2012 and was named a Best Voice of 2008-2011, 2014, 2015 and a Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award Winner 2008-2013. A winner of over twenty-five AudioFile Earphones Awards, AudioFile magazine named Heller one of the top fifty voices of the twentieth century. Johnny coaches actors in audiobook narration and commercial voice-over locally, nationally and internationally.
Review :
Hilarious and heart-warming, Buddy reminded me of Cheaper by the Dozen, only with animals. I flat-out loved this book.-- "Joseph Finder, author of Paranoid"
"A moving and funny account of one man's journey from bachelor to husband and father, aided by remarkable pets."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"Brian McGrory has a sure hand for polished storytelling. He is able to wring maximum comic effect from the 'terrible pet' genre and also to tell a heartwarming family tale without trying too noticeably to warm the heart...The subsequent bad-rooster stories, family discord, and grudging acclimation by Mr. McGrory to life in a menagerie accomplish what is surely the desired end. They put Buddy into the Marley & Me league of winsome books about the hyped-up horrors and tender, unexpected rewards of pet paternity."
-- "New York Times"
"Can an ornery rooster really help a city-loving divorcé adapt to family life in the suburbs? McGrory's memoir will have you convinced."
-- "People"
"The very best of memoir writing--honest, clear, and so ultimately moving you feel as if you are best friends with Brian McGrory, though it will not make you want to run out and buy yourself a rooster."
-- "W. Bruce Cameron, New York Times bestselling author"
"This is a laugh-out-loud read."
-- "Chicago Tribune"
