Luke Gray is happy with the way things are. He's finally settled into married life with pragmatic, level-headed Julia, free from his family's absurdities and the chaos of his childhood. Even his mobile-bird factory seems less like a curse he can't shake. But things change when Julia decides they should have a baby... and nothing happens. A trip to the fertility clinic leads to loosened boxers, hormone injections, and some time alone with a plastic vial and a stack of dirty magazines. How could things sink so far, so fast?

His male pride in shreds, Luke finds himself fending off intrusive questions about his sperm from his mother, and avoiding further involvement in his philandering father's affairs. And with Julia more and more a stranger determined to succeed, it's no wonder Luke begins to fantasize about a single, young employee's bee-stung lips. But when complications put Julia in the hospital, Luke is forced to confront his tangled feelings about family, children, and commitment, and decide what he will, or won't, do for love.

The Bird Factory is a high-energy, darkly humorous novel about surviving your family and starting a new one, about the stupid things good men do, and why women put up with them. It introduces David Layton as a sharp observer of human fallibility and a striking new fictional voice.


From the Trade Paperback edition.