The Friend (National Book Award Winner)

A Novel

By: Sigrid Nunez

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING NAOMI WATTS

“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

The New York Times bestselling 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.

Haunting!

A totally remarkable and beautiful novel. The author's voice is lyrical and poignant. A must read!

The Friend

Just simply Beautiful. I will think of this for a long time. And love my dogs better.

More about writing than friendship

I picked this up after a recommendation. I was disappointed. I kept trying to find the thread ... loss? mourning? writing? bonding with a pet? friendship? suicide? I plowed on through the end against my better judgement. There were bright bits, but mostly the author heading in a dozen different directions. It took a lot just to finish.

The Friend is a bitter sweet romance

While listening to this book my daughter's dog became suddenly ill and died. Then my friend had her dog hit by a car and another friend's dog companion succumbed to cancer. So listening to this book was like waiting for a bus to hit me, which it did at the end. Still, listen - it is well written and unusual.

A really lovely story

A tale of love and grief...intelligently and lyrically rendered....one to listen to more than once. A keeper!