Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man

A moving and funny account of one man’s journey from bachelor to husband and father aided by remarkable pets. Novelist and Boston Globe columnist McGrory begins his tale by recounting his bond with his first dog, Harry. Obedient yet loving, Harry helps him through his divorce and enjoyment of newly single life, until a painful disease takes the dog just before his 10th birthday. A grieving McGrory goes about his life, “swallowed up by acres of emptiness like I had never imagined,” until Pam, his former vet, sends him an expensive necktie, and he falls in love again. Pam, recently divorced with two young daughters, introduces McGrory to suburbia and a rooster named Buddy. Originally a science fair project for one of the girls, Buddy quickly becomes the neighborhood attraction, strutting out on the front lawn. Despite McGrory’s hopes that Pam will find a more suitable home for the rooster, Buddy’s tenure becomes permanent with a strong fence around the yard and a home in the shed. In spite of (or perhaps because of) Buddy’s frequent attacks on McGrory, and a disastrous summer in Maine, McGrory comes to understand the obligations and sacrifices that come with family life. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Nov.)