So in the last week I have read two AMAZING dog books that I wanted to review/recommend here. I will warn that both books span the often too short lifetime of the dogs involved, so both books will require at least one box of Kleenex each. But the rewards are worth the sadness, just as owning a dog is.
First is A Big Little Life by Dean Koontz
Dean is my favorite author, so I am VERY biased here, but honestly, for anyone who has ever loved a dog, especially a golden, this is the best book ever.
Some background: I receive a snail mail newsletter from Dean a few times a year. After he got his first dog, Trixie, a golden retreiver who retired young as a service dog from Canine Companions for Independence, he began to include little bits of wisdom from Trixie in his newsletter. They were always funny, cute and so dog appropriate that I loved it. Trixie eventually went on to “write” four books of her own. All of which I highly recommend as quick, uplifting, fun and funny reads.
Well, Trixie eventually went to the other side of the rainbow bridge as Koontz often puts it… And that is where this book comes in. This is a memoir of Dean’s life during the time that Trixie graced his and Gerda’s lives. He takes you through the journey of learning about how a dog is more than a dog and how a person’s love of a dog is so much more than any non-dog person can truly understand. As Dean struggles to put to words the true beauty, innocence and love of a dog he does sometimes get a bit spiritual, but never preachy or specific to one religion.
Overall: Dean does a great job of trying to describe how important dogs are to us dog lovers… He shares the laughter, joy and sorrow that comes with having furry children. It is a short book, makes for a quick read.
Second book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
This book is written from the perspective of a family dog, Enzo. Enzo tells you about his life from when he was selected by a man, Denny, from a group of puppies and through his journey with Denny as Denny finds a wife and has a child and eventually his departure from Denny’s life. I loved the way that this book was written from Enzo’s perspective, the point of view is not dumbed down or written funny because it is a dog’s point of view. Enzo shows himself to be an intelligent and well spoken being as he shares his story with us. Along with my warning at the beginning that both books span the life of a dog I will also warn that this book includes the end of another character’s life as well as many other struggles in Enzo’s family. This book will make you think of your dog/dogs in a different way and help you to see their struggle to communicate. Denny, Enzo’s master, is a race car driver so there is a lot of racing metaphor throughout the book. Near the end the racing metaphors get pretty thick. I found myself skimming a few of those to get back to the main story at times, but overall it was a quick read that I really enjoyed.
