The Leopard Is Loose

In his 70s, Grady McClarty, a retired car dealer, responds to a request from the Oklahoma Historical Society to recount his memories of a famous, and historically true, leopard escape from the Oklahoma City Zoo that occurred when Grady was five, in 1952. For many reasons, that summer proves pivotal for Grady and his extended family, who all live together as a multigenerational household. Grady’s widowed mother, Bethie, starts dating Hugh and considering a move to Texas, and his uncles Frank and Emmett, both veterans haunted by their World War II experiences, struggle with returning to civilian life. Harrigan (A Friend of Mr. Lincoln) vividly recreates 1950s Oklahoma City with a fine eye for historical detail (“I waited for the set to warm up, for the black-and-white images to coalesce from a field of grayish green”), using a spare writing style reminiscent of Kent Haruf. The story focuses more on Grady’s perceptions of the familial and social tumult than with the leopard’s escape.