The Friend (National Book Award Winner): A Novel

About this book

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMESS 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 dogs 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.