The Chicken Runs at Midnight by Tom Friend

This book was selected for the November discussion of the Gables Book Club. We had planned a trip to Kentucky and at the suggestion of a number of members who tend to listen to audio books, I downloaded a copy of the book to play on the drive. Listening to a book was something I had never done before, but felt that this would be a good one and of interest to my husband. What a great decision that was. 

The Chicken Runs at Midnight is a bit of a memoir of Rich Donnelly, a former MLB player and coach. That he was associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates was an added bonus. But more than Donnelly's story, it is the touching narrative of the life of his daughter, Amy, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 18. Donnelly was born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, just about an hour from Pittsburgh. He was the son of an abusive father and loving mother. His only desire in life was to be a major league player and then to coach third base for the Pirates and win a World Series. When he was young, he lost his older brother, his coach and mentor to cancer, an event that indelibly marked his adolescent years. While at Xavier College, he met his wife Peggy. From there he became a MLB catcher with the Minnesota Twins and in the Washington Senators organization. His coaching career with the Texas Rangers saw him associated with Billy Martin, and then joined forces with Jim Leyland and the Pirates and eventually the Florida Marlins. During this time he was often the absentee father and at one point a partying baseball player/coach whose affair with a dental hygenist led to a messy divorce. His reminiscences about his days growing up listening to KDKA, Bob Prince and the Pirates' games brought back, for this reader, the fondest memories.  The description of the euphoria when Bill Mazeroski hit his 9th inning, game 7  walk-off home run in the 1960 World Series was palpable. 

But the most dramatic moment of the book occurred when his daughter, Amy, called and said, "I have a brain tumor. I'm sorry." Nothing could change the life of a parent more than hearing those words. Amy was a delightful child who idolized her father, without him reciprocating the feeling. Donnelly was more interested in his sons becoming the star athletes in the family. However, she did love baseball and when Donnelly was coaching for the Pirates developed a strong relationship with some of their superstars like Barry Bonds, Sid Bream, and Doug Drabek. She would often babysit the players' children in the "green room." As she watched her father coach 3rd base, cupping his hands and shouting to players, she wondered what he was saying. After one game, she asked, "Dad, what are you telling them? That the chicken runs at midnight, or what?" The phrase became a family catchphrase, often signalling a hello, goodbye, or an I love you. Little did anyone know that it would mark such an auspicious occasion as the winning of the 1997 World Series. Craig Counsell, one of my least favorite managers in baseball, is the central figure in fulfilling Amy's prophecy. I will look at him in a different light as he manages the Brewers.

Although the book has very strong religious overtones in its conclusion, it chronicled baseball and the realization that family and those relationships are meant to be of the utmost important basis of our lives.  This was just the best "listen" for bringing back all those wonderful baseball moments which I have seen and heard. 

 

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Hearkening back to the mid-1980s, Tell the Wolves I'm Home, allows an insight into the misunderstanding of the AIDS epidemic and the tragic deaths of so many of its victims. 

June Elbus, the fourteen year-old protagonist of the novel, lives with her older sister, Greta, and her parents who are accountants in Westchester, New York, only a short train ride from the city. She has developed a very strong relationship with her Uncle Finn, who is also her godfather. Finn is a world renowned painter who lives in New York City. He is gay and, as readers learn early on, dying of AIDS. Before he dies, it is his desire to paint a portrait of June and Greta. He finishes it right before he dies. The painting eventually is given to the Elbus family and stored in a safety deposit box at a local bank. Only June and Greta have keys to the box. 

At Finn's June notices a stranger, who does not come into the service. Danni, June's mother, harbors a great deal of animosity toward the man, whom she blames for killing her brother. It is Toby, Finn's boyfriend. As the novel progresses, Toby and June become friends as they both try to deal with the death of the person whom they both loved so dearly. Finn has written notes to each asking them to look after the other. June begins to realize that the person whom her mother despises is not really the awful person he is conjured up to be. In fact, he is the innocent victim of AIDS.

Throughout the novel, family dynamics are revealed in the relationship of Greta and June. Both are dealing with issues that manifest themselves in a strong sibling rivalary, while both deal with almost being orphans during the tax season. Greta is starring as Bloody Mary in the high school production of South Pacific and virtually coerces June into attending some of the rehearsals and parties after that are held in the woods behind the school. The woods have special meaning to June as this is where she goes for solitude and contemplation. June rescues Greta twice from the parties  when she has become intoxicated. 

 On the evening of the play Greta again invites June to join her, but she can't because she has been grounded for having defiled the painting. When Greta doesn't come home, she enlists the aid of Toby, who because of his alien status, is arrested while trying to rescue Greta. It is not long after that Toby succumbs to pneumonia and also dies. 

The novel is a fairly easy and quick read. The characters are three dimensional and play a role in the development of relationships between parents, friends, and relatives. The tremendous dread of coming into contact with a person who has AIDS reminds the reader of how dire the disease was in its early days. Tell the Wolves I'm Home won the Alex Award in 2013. This award is presented by YALSA to an adult book that has special appeal to the young adult reader. 

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

Written by an unnamed narrator,  The Friend is a novel that recounts how she came to take in a Great Dane dog into her 500 ft. square apartment in New York City. The previous owner of the dog committed suicide and his current wife did not want to keep the dog. 

It is difficult to describe the exact genre of this novel. Sometimes it is a memoir, a diary, a philosophical treatise on life and death, and an accounting of a relationship between two people - one living and one dead. 

The narrator is an English professor as was the owner of the dog. They had at one point had a brief amorous relationship and maintained their friendship throughout his subsequent marriages.  The prose contains many quotations form the lives of outstanding writers, especially Rainer Maria Rilke and Letters to a Young Poet. (Note to self - read this book). 

As the narrator adapts to life with Apollo, she fears that she will be homeless since the apartment in which she lives does not permit dogs. However, weighing that risk vs. turning the dog over to a shelter with the possibility of him being euthanized allows her to come to the decision of keeping him. He likes to be read to and he sleeps in her bed, so very much missing his former master. As she writes to and refers to "you." the man who has committed suicide, she reminisces about various workshops and encounters with students, especially one in particular that dealt with the victims of human trafficking. Throughout, she questions place of evil in the world and the value of life itself. 

The winner of the National Book Award. The Friend is a slim volume packed with ideas and themes for the reader to ponder. Foremost among those themes is grief and the grip it holds on people and dogs. By the end of the novel, the reader is assured that grief can enable life and allow someone to move on with grief becoming a part of that life. 

The twist at the end of the book will leave a bit of head scratching and pondering as to who really is the friend.