# Carrying Albert Home

By Homer Hickam

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/carrying-albert-home-26508de7/

Elsie Hickam's pet alligator is a wedding gift from the man she once loved. Albert lives in the only bathroom of the home she shares with her coal-miner husband, Homer. When Homer finally demands a choice, their answer is a thousand-mile drive to return Albert to Florida.

## What makes it funny?

Homer has to share his bathroom with a living reminder of his romantic rival. The solution to this domestic problem requires taking the alligator on the road with them, giving a marital ultimatum a remarkably inconvenient outcome.

### The comedy at work

Hickam lets the journey accumulate the sort of adventures that improve with retelling. In Don Noble's review, a chance encounter with John Steinbeck turns into unsolicited advice from a striker about selling more books by adding blood and guts.

### Try this if…

Affectionate family tall tales are the draw, especially for readers who enjoy an episodic journey through Depression-era America. The couple's unsettled marriage gives the adventures something more painful to return to.

### Good to know

Hickam calls this an adult novel. It draws on stories about his parents and freely invents around them; Noble distinguishes it from the more realistic Coalwood memoirs. The introduction describes dangerous mining work and families living with loss.

## What to expect

- Genre: Adventure · Historical
- On the shelf: Picaresque
- Kind of humor: Situational comedy
- The atmosphere: Warmhearted
- Audience: Adult
- Format: Novel

## Sources & further reading

- Author commentary: [Author paperback listing](https://homerhickam.com/product/carrying-albert-home)
- Author commentary: [Author description](https://homerhickam.com/project/carrying-albert-home)
- Review: [Don Noble review](https://www.apr.org/arts-life/2015-12-14/carrying-albert-home-by-homer-hickam)
- Reading sample: [Author introduction](https://homerhickam.com/sneak-peek-introduction-to-carrying-albert-home)