Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, His Wife and Her Alligator

By: Homer Hickam

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Rocket Boys - the basis of the movie October Sky - comes a long-awaited prequel.

Big Fish meets The Notebook in this emotionally evocative story about a man, a woman, and an alligator that is a moving tribute to love, from the New York Times best-selling author of the award-winning memoir Rocket Boys - the basis of the movie October Sky.

Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam (the father of the author) were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields, graduating just as the Great Depression began. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando, where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen (yes, that Buddy Ebsen). But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie's dreams of a life with him were crushed, and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields, married to Homer.

Unfulfilled as a miner's wife, Elsie was reminded of her carefree days with Buddy every day because of his unusual wedding gift: an alligator named Albert she raised in the only bathroom in the house. When Albert scared Homer by grabbing his pants, he gave Elsie an ultimatum: 'Me or that alligator!'

After giving it some thought, Elsie concluded there was only one thing to do: carry Albert home.

Carrying Albert Home is the funny, sweet and sometimes tragic tale of a young couple and a special alligator on a crazy 1,000-mile adventure.

Told with the warmth and down-home charm that made Rocket Boys a beloved best seller, Homer Hickam's rollicking tale is ultimately a testament to that strange and marvelous emotion we inadequately call love.

©2015 Homer Hickam (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Great memoirs must balance the universal and the particular.... In his debut, Hickam...walks the line beautifully.... No matter how jaded readers have become by the onslaught of memoirs, none will want to miss the fantastic voyage of BCMA, Auk and Coalwood." (Publishers Weekly on Rocket Boys)
"Recalling a lost era, the transition between small-town life and the dawning of the new technological age, he brings his American hometown to life with vivid images, appealing characters and considerable literary magic." (Publishers Weekly on The Coalwood Way)