But a third of the way in, the story suddenly takes off: In 1967 the four friends seriously injured a man when they more or less unintentionally rolled a hot-dog cart down the steps of a subway entrance. All this is recalled through a dripping mist of nostalgia the streetcorner banter is as stilted and coy as a late Bowery Boys film. Growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen in the 1960s, former New York Daily News reporter Carcaterra (A Safe Place, 1993) had three close friends with whom he played stickball, bedeviled nuns, and ran errands for the neighborhood Mob boss. Starting out with calculated, movie-ready anecdotes about his boyhood gang, Carcaterra's memoir takes a hairpin turn into horror and then changes tack once more to relate grippingly what must be one of the most outrageous confidence schemes ever perpetrated. Wells weaves in the struggles of his own life and marriage with his wife's successful fight against recurrent cancer, and their adoption of an orphan from Korea.Īn extraordinary true tale of torment, retribution, and loyalty that's irresistibly readable in spite of its intrusively melodramatic prose. There are also moving stories of difficult births and life-saving efforts in nighttime winter snows. Wells includes tips, perhaps not practical for everyone, but entertaining, how Vicks vapor rub obscures smell and helps ewes adopt, not reject, orphaned lambs. And then there are the owners, reluctant to upset the vet with fears of what might happen. Dealing with the unexpected-llamas who don’t want their nails trimmed, teenagers looking to get high on feline distemper vaccine, a herd of Scottish Highland cattle trying to protect a calf from the vet-makes for some high-tension reading. The phrase “he's never tried to bite anyone in his life” has special meaning for them, and the author includes a story of a group displaying and discussing their wounds and scars. The stories are as much about the human owners as about the animal patients for pet owners, Wells provides insight into a vet's view of the world. The author doesn’t just deal with dogs and cats, but also sheep, goats, llamas, cattle, horses, donkeys and mules, most of which require outpatient visits. He introduces us to a cross section of critters who come through his office, or who he has to visit. Veterinarian Wells returns with another collection of warm, humorous tales of the animals he treats and the people who own and care for them. Follow-up to All My Patients Have Tales (2009).
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