Calumet Editions

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Rolling Pigeons

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A successful businessman, devout husband and father, and most importantly, the town of Gilmore’s legendary star pitcher, Sy Todd, is a 63-year-old pillar of this colorful rural midwestern community and is respected and liked by all. Two weeks before being inducted into the County Baseball Hall of Fame, he inexplicably begins to falter. Is it a nascent streak of lechery brought on by a troubled marriage, a fear of aging into a life unfulfilled? Or is it something deeper that the usually steadfast Sy, for once in his life, cannot control. Rolling Pigeons is named after a colorful breed of pigeon selected for its inclination to inexplicably tumble or roll in the air. As a hobby, Sy is raising a coop full of these oddball birds, which become a strong metaphor for his own incomprehensible actions.

Description

Sy Todd has spent a lifetime being the kind of man everyone can count on: a successful small-town businessman, devoted husband and father, and Gilmore’s legendary star pitcher. But two weeks before his County Baseball Hall of Fame induction, Sy begins to unravel in ways he can’t explain—or stop.

A single strange incident becomes a public scandal, drawing gossip, media attention, and pressure that cracks open old wounds inside Sy’s family. As his wife’s stability wavers and his adult daughter scrambles to keep the household from collapsing, Sy tries to understand what’s happening to his mind and body—and what, if anything, can be redeemed once a town has made up its story about you. In the background, Sy’s beloved hobby—raising rolling pigeons bred to tumble mid-flight—becomes a haunting metaphor: some creatures pull out of the spiral in time. Others don’t.

At once darkly funny and deeply human, Rolling Pigeons is a novel about aging, shame, love, and the terrifying moment when the self you’ve relied on starts to slip.

Product Details

PublishedFebruary 18, 2026
ImprintCalumet Editions
LanguageEnglish
Print length296
ISBN-139781962834704
Dimensions6 x 0.74 x 9 inches

I loved this book. It’s a strange story, but you get pulled into it instantly. Like any great writer, Roettger has you in the place, with the characters, you feel what they’re feeling, even if you don’t want to. It’s not the place that makes this an interesting story, but the characters, and how real they feel, and how you see their world through their eyes and thoughts.

—Jim Pulcrano, review on Amazon