The Boy with Six Fingers by Barry Vitcov

This is a wise and humane book that explores the interconnections, sometimes over generations, that a life well lived can have. In simple, declarative writing, Vitcov explores the humor, pain, adjustments, and love humans share, both within and beyond the family. A must read.

–John Frohnmayer, former Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts.

The Boy with Six Fingers is a novella that revolves around Seymour S. Seymour, who has “rehomed himself” at the Visions of Eden Home for Active Seniors for the final years of his life. He likes to spend time sitting and observing in a medical office’s waiting room between walks and other life interactions. That’s where he encounters a young boy sporting six fingers on his left hand, who walks in with his parents. From that moment on, both Seymour’s and the boy’s lives become forever intertwined. Barry Vitcov creates a warm narrative of empathy and discovery that evolves as the years pass. Wink becomes a twelve-year-old with a special friend that gives him new perspectives on himself, life, and the value of growing older and wiser. Vitcov builds a host of characters from this initial encounter who find their lives changed and challenged by gifts of perception as new generations absorb the impact initially created from the ripples of friendship between Wink and Sy.

–Diane Donovan, Midwest Review of Books