Laced with self deprecating humor and laced with a healthy dose of pathos, the novel, Slow to Grow, follows Lloyd Kulligan as he matures (slowly) over the course of 25 years from a lonely sex starved teenager to a middle aged married man (and still sex starved.Laced with self deprecating humor and laced with a healthy dose of pathos, the novel, Slow to Grow, follows Lloyd Kulligan as he matures (slowly) over the course of 25 years from a lonely sex starved teenager to a middle aged married man (still sex starved). His story runs the gamut from the frivolities of youth to the realities and obstacles of an ordinary life, punctuated by the tragic deaths of his son and mother.Lloyd Kulligan is a clueless, oedipal 13 year old just trying to fit in with his classmates. Women are a foreign and untouchable species, and will continue to torment him for years to come. The story follows him through his lonely and torturous high school years, the supposedly free-spirited college years and through his barren early twenties, where the road unsurprisingly, is no less bumpy. Lloyd Kulligan is a clueless, oedipal 13 year old just trying to fit in with his classmates. Women are a foreign and untouchable species, and will continue to torment him for years to come. The story follows him through his lonely and torturous high school years, the supposedly free-spirited college years and through his barren early twenties, where the road unsurprisingly, is no less bumpy. At age 25 and still as clueless as ever, he is surprisingly pursued by Rebecca, a much older woman. Soon though, his whole being is rocked by the shocking news of his mother’s cancer diagnosis. A surprise and speedy recovery by his mother leads him headfirst into a romantic relationship with Rebecca and after a quick courtship (three years) she becomes his wife. When they find out she is pregnant right after their honeymoon, they rejoice, until tragedy strikes nine months later on Lloyd’s 30th birthday. The tumult that follows could destroy their marriage; but Becky is determined to be a mother, while Lloyd is content to let fate decide their course. After much more heartbreak, adoption becomes their only option, and Lloyd becomes openly and angrily hostile to that idea causing a deep rift with his wife which could lead to their divorce. Luckily, Becky knows better, and at age 33 Lloyd becomes the father to Jake, adopted at six months old from Guatemala, who in turn becomes the light of his life. But tragedy strikes again, as ten years to the day of her first diagnosis, Lloyd’s mother has a recurrence of her cancer, and this time the outcome is much grimmer. He has to come to grips with his greatest fear since he was a child, the death of his mother. “Slow to grow, slow to grow”, she would say lovingly to Lloyd, whenever his immaturity would rear its head, which was often, but in the end, he WOULD grow by delivering a heartfelt, courageous, and hilarious eulogy at her funeral. Life goes on.
