Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man - Softcover

A USA Today Weekend Pick

"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

"This is a laugh-out-loud read." --Chicago Tribune

"In this touching tale of how a feisty rooster, who constantly peers at the columnist through the window, made McGrory a better man, the columnist succeeds in telling the story of change with a healthy dose of humor...Lessons are learned here, often the hard way, but McGrory comes out the other side realizing how second acts can succeed if you give everyone enough space, love and respect. Especially the rooster." --USA Today

"Poignant and funny...McGrory takes the pet memoir to a hilarious new place as a crazed rooster competes with him over who will rule his new family's suburban roost...McGrory vividly explores his frustrations...detailing it all with self-effacing humor and a winning ability to dramatize the 'man vs. rooster' conflict with scenes that are self-revelatory and laugh-out-loud funny...It turns out that for McGrory, as it was for Emily Dickinson, hope is a thing with feathers." --Boston Globe

"Can an ornery rooster really help a city-loving divorce 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, author of A Dog's Purpose

"At turns hilarious and heart-breaking, Buddy is a book to crow about." --Sy Montgomery, author of The Good Good Pig and Birdology

"A book that makes us laugh and cry is precious, and as a man who has a rooster and writes about animals, Brian McGrory hit a home run for me with Buddy: How A Rooster Made Me A Family Man...Anyone who has ever loved an animal will want to go on this journey." --Jon Katz, author of Going Home, A Dog Year, and Dancing Dogs

"Hilarious and heart-warming, Buddy reminded me of Cheaper by the Dozen, only with animals. I flat-out loved this book." --Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Paranoia and Buried Secrets

"A moving and funny account of one man's journey from bachelor to husband and father aided by remarkable pets." --Publishers Weekly

"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." --Library Journal

Brian McGrory thought he had it all figured out: a great job, a condo in Back Bay, and his beloved golden retriever Harry by his side. But after Harry’s death, McGrory's life as a bachelor takes quite the turn. He falls in love with Harry’s veterinarian Pam, and leaves the city for life in the suburbs with Pam’s family and their two dogs, two cats, two rabbits, and Buddy—the self-assured family rooster who hates Brian’s guts.
   These things never go as easily as they should. The commute is long, the kids were wary, and Buddy was constantly poised to attack. But rather than accept defeat, Brian eventually sees that Buddy shares the kind of extraordinary relationship with Pam and the girls that he wants for himself. Funnily enough, it’s the rooster’s tenacious devotion to the family that encourages a change in Brian’s perspective, and before long, the archenemy becomes his inspiration, helping Brian evolve into a true family man
   With luminous writing and expert comic timing, McGrory brings to life a classic story of love, acceptance, and change as one man’s nemesis becomes his madcap mentor.

Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader’s guide and bonus content