New York Times Reviewed Author
Craig
Lang
Some children count the years. Craig Lang counted the Octobers.
In An Orphan’s Octobers, Craig Lang opens the door to a life that often felt impossible to survive. What begins in an orphanage becomes a decades-long journey through adoption, family violence, foster care, baseball clubhouses, Vietnam, friendship, loss, reinvention, and unexpected triumph. Told through twenty-six unforgettable Octobers, this memoir is honest, funny, heartbreaking, and deeply human. It is the story of a boy searching for belonging, a young man fighting to stay standing, and an adult determined to make meaning from every scar.
01
Published Work
12
Chapters
∞
Stories Within
The Author
Writing at the
intersection of memory
& identity.
Craig Lang has lived several lifetimes in one. Adopted as an infant and raised within the unique world surrounding professional baseball, he experienced both extraordinary opportunities and devastating hardships from an early age. His journey carried him from childhood struggles and foster care to military service in Vietnam, where he faced challenges that would leave a lasting mark on his life.
Along the way, he worked countless jobs, formed lifelong friendships, built businesses, navigated love and loss, and collected stories that could never fit inside a conventional autobiography. Those experiences shaped the voice readers encounter in this memoir: direct, reflective, witty, and unafraid to tell the truth.
What sets Craig apart is his ability to find humanity in every chapter of his life. Even in moments of pain, he remembers the people who offered kindness, guidance, and second chances. His storytelling blends sharp observation with humor, creating a narrative that feels less like reading a memoir and more like sitting across from someone finally telling the whole story.
An Orphan’s Octobers represents decades of memories, reflections, and lessons gathered through a life few could have imagined.
The Book
An Orphan's Octobers
By Craig Lang
Every October marked a turning point in Craig Lang’s life. Some brought hope. Others brought heartbreak. Together, they tell the remarkable story of a man who refused to let his circumstances define him.
Beginning with his adoption into a family connected to professional baseball, Craig’s childhood looked ideal from the outside. Behind closed doors, however, he endured years of abuse, fear, and uncertainty. As the years passed, he navigated foster care, military service during the Vietnam era, difficult relationships, career changes, and countless moments that tested his resilience.
What makes this memoir different is its honesty. Craig does not present himself as a hero. He shares his victories, mistakes, humor, anger, and hard-earned wisdom with equal candor. Through twenty-six stories spanning three decades, readers witness a life shaped by both cruelty and kindness, loss and loyalty.
An Orphan’s Octobers is ultimately a story about survival, identity, and the people who help us keep going when giving up would seem easier.
Genre
Memoir
Pages
Chapters
Publisher
Independent
Inside the Book
Chapter
Previews
12
01
Chapter One
A Saturday morning turns into a nightmare when Craig’s father leaves town and he is left alone with the woman whose cruelty has already begun shaping his childhood. What starts as household chores quickly becomes a life-changing confrontation that forces him to question the meaning of family and survival.
02
Chapter Two:
Craig looks back to his beginnings in a South Carolina orphanage and the adoption that placed him in a family tied to the world of professional baseball. Behind the promise of a fresh start lies the foundation of a far more complicated future.
03
Chapter Three:
Surrounded by the excitement of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the people who made baseball history, young Craig experiences a childhood filled with privilege and wonder. Yet subtle changes at home hint that innocence will not last forever.
04
Chapter Four:
As new siblings arrive and family dynamics shift, Craig struggles to understand where he belongs. What appears to be a normal childhood from the outside slowly begins revealing deeper fractures beneath the surface.
05
Chapter Five
A new school, stricter rules, and growing tensions at home push Craig into unfamiliar territory. The violence he experiences becomes harder to ignore, while the adults around him remain silent.
06
Chapter Six
At school and at home, Craig learns that pain often hides behind ordinary routines. While the world celebrates baseball heroes, he discovers how loneliness and fear can quietly shape a child’s view of life.
07
Chapter Seven
Banished to the basement and burdened with increasing responsibilities, Craig watches his family drift further away from him. Even moments of happiness are overshadowed by the sense that another storm is coming.
08
Chapter Eight
As childhood gives way to adolescence, Craig begins relying more on his own instincts than the adults around him. Independence becomes both a survival tool and a source of conflict.
09
Chapter Nine
New friendships and outside influences offer glimpses of freedom. For the first time, Craig begins imagining a life beyond the limits imposed on him at home.
10
Chapter Ten
The struggle between hope and hardship intensifies. Craig faces choices that will influence the direction of his future while learning that resilience often comes at a cost.
11
Chapter Eleven
Growing older brings greater awareness of the world around him. Family tensions, personal disappointments, and unexpected opportunities collide during a pivotal season of change.
12
Chapter Twelve
Craig discovers that survival is not simply enduring hardship but finding people willing to stand beside you. New relationships begin altering his outlook on life.
Watch & Listen
Hear the
Story in His Own Words
Step into a life shaped by survival, courage, and unforgettable Octobers.
From an orphanage to baseball clubhouses, from foster care to Vietnam, Craig Lang’s extraordinary memoir reveals a lifetime of battles, friendships, heartbreak, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of belonging.
Author Reading — An Orphan's Octobers, Chapter One
Reader Praise
What People Are
Saying
"Raw, courageous, and impossible to forget. Craig Lang tells his story with honesty that stays with you long after the final page."
"A remarkable memoir filled with heartbreak, humor, resilience, and unforgettable characters. Every chapter feels like a piece of living history."
"More than a life story, this is a testament to endurance. An emotional and deeply human journey from beginning to end."
Featured Review
Readers who appreciate honest storytelling, powerful memoirs, and unforgettable life journeys will find much to admire in Craig Lang’s remarkable account.