u003cbu003eu003cbu003eu003cbu003eWINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD u003cpu003eu003c/bu003eu003ciu003eNEW YORK TIMESu003c/iu003e NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018 u003cpu003eu003c/bu003e"A beautiful book ... a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love." u003ciu003e--Wall Street Journalu003c/iu003e u003cpu003e"A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory...Nunez has a wry, withering wit." u003ciu003e--NPRu003c/iu003e u003cpu003e"Dry, allusive and charming...the comedy here writes itself." u003ciu003eThe New York Timesu003c/iu003e u003cpu003eA moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.u003c/bu003e u003cpu003eWhen 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. u003cpu003eWhile 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. u003cpu003eElegiac and searching, u003ciu003eThe Friendu003c/iu003e is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.
