Subtitle: The Somewhat true story of a Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator.
The man and wife in this case are the author's parents. Homer senior was a coal miner in Coalwood, West Virginia. Elsie was his high school sweetheart who reluctantly returned from an escape in Florida to marry him. Albert is the alligator. When Albert outgrows his cement "pond", Homer and Elsie decide to take him back to Florida where his life began until Buddy Ebsen - the Buddy Ebsen - sent the alligator to Elsie as a wedding gift. But it is the 1930's and the only affordable way to go is a road trip. Homer thinks the roundtrip will take 10 days but what he doesn't realize is that Elsie has other plans. And so the adventure begins complete with bank robbers, a pet rooster, and an encounter with John Steinbeck. Theoretically, the story is based on real events but I'm sure the truth is stretched quite a bit. No matter - the heart of the story is the relationship between Homer and Elsie. Sometimes funny. sometimes too over the top - each chapter is single adventure making it a great road trip read.
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