The Intricate Art of Making Old Friends

The Intricate Art of Making Old Friends is a story of the possibility of redemption. It is structured into four parts: A Friend in Deed, A Friend in Need, A Friend Retrieved, and A Friend Perceived.
In Deed: After finishing a stint in detox and six-months in a half-way house, sixty-four-year-old Mark Gleasoin starts a new job sorting and shelving books donated to the free library at the town recycling center. The alcoholic’s shakes are gone, but his old familiar emotions—rage, shame, remorse and resentment—remain.
Gleasoin’s rage erupts when he discovers Hodge Johnson, the center’s bulldozer operator, taking books from the library and burying them in the garbage pit. In retaliation, Gleasoin vandalizes Johnson’s pride and joy—an ancient Caterpillar bulldozer. A war between book savior and book destroyer escalates until Johnson learns the librarian is a newly sober alcoholic. Johnson, who once had six years of sobriety before drinking again, decides he might be able to get himself sober again by helping Gleasoin. An unlikely friendship begins to develop. Hodge shares what he knows about how an angry, defiant drunk can stay sober and Gleasoin introduces Johnson to the joys of reading. Over time each cautiously reveals himself to the other. It is only when Johnson suddenly disappears that Gleasoin realizes how important their relationship had become for him.
In Deed: A mysterious donor seems to be leaving messages encrypted in the contents of the boxes of books he donates to the library. The librarian learns the donor is Phil Hohner, a retired literature professor, who is deaccessioning his library because he is going blind. Hohner is the opposite of Hodge Johnson. Where Hodge was outrageous, Hohner is diffident. Where Gleasoin and Hodge traded stories of drinking adventures and debacles, Hohner shares his deep knowledge and appreciation of literature. Gleasoin thinks he may have found a replacement for what he had with Hodge until Hohner invites him for dinner and leaves Gleasoin thinking the professor may be offering more than friendship. Gleasoin backs off, but later regrets what his fears may have caused him to miss.
Retrieved: Gleasoin is nearly two years sober when he discovers how tenuous his sobriety is after a woman confronts him with how, decades before, he had abused her during a drunken escapade of which he has no memory. His realization of the possibilities of what else he might have done during his frequent blackouts causes the librarian to look back at how his wife, Serafina, and his daughter, Zory, left with no warning. He concludes he must have sexually abused Zory while in a blackout. Devastated by that realization, Gleasoin wavers between getting drunk or ending his life until a third option appears—sharing what he had done. After opening himself up, Gleasoin’s sobriety moves to more solid ground until Zory suddenly appears to tell him that Serafina is dying from ALS.
When Gleasoin visits Serafina he finds her disease is less progressed than he assumed. After the visit, Gleasoin is confused by what transpired over the few hours he spent with his former love. Serafina had been not only kind, amusing, rueful, and tender, but also angry, accusatory, bitter, and sarcastic. He is even more confused after Serafina tells him Zory is her father’s daughter, a very lost soul with a serious alcohol problem.
Perceived: When he receives a letter from Serafina telling him Zory is in a detox Gleasoin decides to visit his daughter to make amends. However, before he has a chance to see Zory, he meets Myrna, the detox director, who cautions him against having any hopes for forgiveness or reconciliation. When he does meet Zory, she angrily dismisses him. When Gleasoin tells Myrna that she was right, the situation is hopeless, she suggests Gleasoin stay another night in a way that causes Gleasoin to hope that with Myrna he may have found the friend he needs, or more.