Book Description
Gus was a lucky dog. Injured and abandoned, he could have become another of the 7 million animals euthanized every year. Then Stephanie Williams entered the picture. A successful journalist, she had been diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at the age of 30. On medical leave and living alone, she wanted a warm four-legged companion. When she saw Gus's soulful eyes and goofy grin, it was love at first sight: she would rescue him, and he would return the favor.
Just Gus is about how much one dog did to make a dying woman happy — giving tireless love, comfort, and support. This extraordinary story shows how one dog brought joy and hope to a woman's last days.
Customer Reviews:
A Heartfelt Book.......2007-08-16
This book, although sad, makes you feel so good. The devoted love an an unwanted dog helps a dying woman to get through her last two years of her battle with cancer. Written well and with photographs.
Very moving story.......2007-05-14
I absolutely loved this book. It was a quick read, but very moving. Another perfect example of how therapeutic and healing having an animal in your life can be. Bravo!!
Sweet story disappointing book.......2007-03-23
This was a very sweet, compelling story. But I read the book in a metter of 20 minutes, way too short! My fault for not reviewing the number of pages.
A very touching story........2007-02-23
Not many pages but what the book says is very powerful. It makes you wonder how much fate and destiny really does factor in our lives. Hope was given to a woman in the form of a dog and hope was given to a dog by someone who I believe was meant to be the one. They found and needed each other is a under statement. The story will make you laugh and cry. Worth every dime and I would recommend it to anyone.
just gus: a rescued dog and the woman he loved.......2007-02-12
a wonderful story, very well told and covered beautifully in photographs. it reminds us that taking just one poor little lost pup from an animal shelter and giving it love and understanding, can so enrich our lives, no matter what our situation is or what lies ahead.
Average customer rating:
- In the mood for something sentimental?
- All You Need Is Love
- Anthropomorphism of the highest order
- highly recommended
- Good Stuff
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Timbuktu: A Novel
Paul Auster
Manufacturer: Picador
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Binding: Paperback
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The Dog Who Wouldn't Be
ASIN: 0312263996 |
Amazon.com
In Timbuktu Paul Auster tackles homelessness in America using a dog as his point-of-view character. Strange as the premise seems, it's been done before, in John Berger's King, and it actually works. Filtering the homeless experience through the relentlessly unsentimental eye of a dog, both writers avoid miring their tales in an excess of melodrama. Whereas Berger's book skips among several characters, Timbuktu remains tightly focused on just two: Mr. Bones, "a mutt of no particular worth or distinction," and his master, Willy G. Christmas, a middle-aged schizophrenic who has been on the streets since the death of his mother four years before. The novel begins with Willy and Mr. Bones in Baltimore searching for a former high school English teacher who had encouraged the teenage Willy's writerly aspirations. Now Willy is dying and anxious to find a home for both his dog and the multitude of manuscripts he has stashed in a Greyhound bus terminal. "Willy had written the last sentence he would ever write, and there were no more than a few ticks left in the clock. The words in the locker were all he had to show for himself. If the words vanished, it would be as if he had never lived."
Paul Auster is a cerebral writer, preferring to get to his reader's gut through the brain. When Willy dies, he goes out on a sea of words; as for Mr. Bones, this is a dog who can think about metaphysical issues such as the afterlife--referred to by Willy as "Timbuktu":
What if no pets were allowed? It didn't seem possible, and yet Mr. Bones had lived long enough to know that anything was possible, that impossible things happened all the time. Perhaps this was one of them, and in that perhaps hung a thousand dreads and agonies, an unthinkable horror that gripped him every time he thought about it.
Once Willy dies and Mr. Bones is on his own, things go from bad to worse as the now masterless dog faces a series of betrayals, rejections, and disappointments. By stepping inside a dog's skin, Auster is able to comment on human cruelties and infrequent kindnesses from a unique world view. But reader be warned: the world in Timbuktu is a bleak one, and even the occasional moments of grace are short lived. --Alix Wilber
Book Description
The New York Times Bestseller- "[Timbuktu] emerges as Auster's most touching, most emotionally accessible book."-Michiko Kakutani, The New York TimesMr. Bones, the canine hero of Paul Auster's astonishing new book, is the sidekick and confidant of Willy G. Christmas, a brilliant and troubled homeless man from Brooklyn, As Willy's body slowly expires, he sets off with Mr. Bones for Baltimore in search of his high school English teacher and a new home for his companion.Mr. Bones is our witness during their journey, and out of his thoughts Paul Auster has spun one of the richest, most compelling tales in recent American fiction."Lovely....[Paul Auster] is one of our most inventive and least predictable authors."-Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World"A novel of haunted love whose themes loop around one another like glowing coils, connecting gracefully beneath Auster's clear prose, eliciting the fanciful and the tragic."-Oscar Villalon, The San Francisco Chronicle"After reading Timbuktu, we ramble through our world with reawakened senses and newly alert minds.This is the Auster magic......[His] books tease and challenge.There is an innocence in his work that is entirely compatible with the complexity of his artistry......Paul Auster is a genuine American original."-Paul Kafka, Boston GlobeAUTHORBIO: Paul Auster is the author of eight previous novels, including The New York Trilogy, The Music of Chance, and Mr. Vertigo.He has also published poems, essays, and two works of autobiography, The Invention of Solitude and Hand to Mouth.He wrote the screenplays to Smoke, Blue in the Face, and Lulu on the Bridge (which he also directed).His work has been translated into twenty-seven languages.He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Customer Reviews:
In the mood for something sentimental?.......2007-08-18
Are you in the mood for something sentimental? How about a book on the sadness of a dog's existence?
Paul Auster has taken a simple idea to a whole other level of reality and in the process has created a work that would transform human perception of the average canine awareness.
Yet, I have to say the story was a bit much for me to swallow. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs (heck, I wrote `The Basenji Revelation' after all) and sometimes I wonder what they feel, think and dream. I had a dog and know for certain that it understood me (I hope not to the degree of Timbuktu's main character). But then the dog died and now I change the radio channel when I hear a sentimental melody which brings forth the memories of us walking together down the street (I still can't get over the fact that my dog suffered the heart condition that eventually killed it). Yes, I change the channel and quickly drain the pan of overflowing nostalgia, which is what I should have done long before reaching the final pages of Timbuktu (Well, what can I say, I love Mr. Auster's writing style).
The story is written from the perspective of a dog by the name of Mr. Bones and follows up with its experiences as it looses one master, finds another, then a third, before it finally succumbs to the desire to escape the pain of its miserable, sickly existence in exchange for the chance to go Human Heaven called Timbuktu (Oh, the beauty of fiction).
If you love dogs and have recently lost one, this book will warm up your heart and then perhaps help you with your grief (although I'm still angry at Fate for the loss of my little pooch).
by Simon Cleveland
All You Need Is Love.......2006-11-25
This is a charming, lightweight fable narrated by a wise old dog named Mr. Bones. Mr. Bones is the sidekick of Willy G. Christmas, a schizophrenic homeless man who is prone to Tom-Waits-like rants and Joycean word-play.
Mr. Bones has spent his entire life with Willy. Now that Willy was close to death, "it was next to impossible for [Mr. Bones] to imagine a world that did not have his master in it." As Mr. Bones astutely observes, "it was more than just love or devotion that caused Mr. Bones to dread what was coming. It was pure ontological terror. Subtract Willy from the world, and the odds were that the world itself would cease to exist."
But Willy does die, and Mr. Bones goes on, sustained by his memories of Willy and the new adventures that fill his life. He eventually finds love in a suburban family, "in the America of two-car garages, home-improvement loans, and neo-Renaissance shopping malls." Willy had always railed against these things, but "the fact was that Mr. Bones had no objections" to these trappings of the good life. Eventually, though, his longing for Willy gets the best of him and he realizes what he needs to do to remain true to himself.
This book is sweetly sentimental, in the style of "The Velveteen Rabbit" or "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." It's a book to read when it's raining outside and you're feeling low, with a cup of hot tea and some cinnamon toast -- preferably with a big old dog at your feet. Like an old Beatles song, it may seem simple at first but the emotions that are expressed are remarkably true.
Anthropomorphism of the highest order.......2006-11-16
I am such a lover of dogs that I have absolutely no idea how wonderful, or not, this book could be for a person who does not fully appreciate them. That said, I think TIMBUKTU is an absolute work of genius! How often do you get a book that makes you belly-laugh and almost cry at the same time? The material of this story could be so depressing, but it's not! And, if you're going to assign human thoughts and emotions to an animal, it might as well be man's best friend, and you might as well go whole-hog with it. Auster pulls this off perfectly. The tone of the story is so precise and perfect, and there's hardly a wasted word in it. This just might be the best dog story I've ever read.
highly recommended.......2006-11-10
Timbuktu is a wonderful novel. It's a quick read, funny, and unexpectedly heartwarming. I picked this book up after reading the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and this was the perfect read after such a long novel. I recommend this book especially for people who love dogs. I also recommend Auster's New York Trilogy.
Good Stuff.......2006-10-02
One of my favorite writers, possibly my favorite living writer, in what seems like a creative exercise, Auster has put together a meaningful story. If you don't like this book, you are not a good person. Use this as a litmus test on intimate personal relationships... if they don't get the book, they can't be worthwhile.
Book Description
“Dogs are blameless, devoid of calculation, neither blessed nor cursed with human motives. They can’t really be held responsible for what they do. But we can.”
–from The Dogs of Bedlam Farm
When Jon Katz adopted a border collie named Orson, his whole world changed. Gone were the two yellow Labs he wrote about in A Dog Year, as was the mountaintop cabin they loved. Katz moved into an old farmhouse on forty-two acres of pasture and woods with a menagerie: a ram named Nesbitt, fifteen ewes, a lonely donkey named Carol, a baby donkey named Fanny, and three border collies.
Training Orson was a demanding project. But a perceptive dog trainer and friend told Katz: “If you want to have a better dog, you will just have to be a better goddamned human.” It was a lesson Katz took to heart. He now sees his dogs as a reflection of his willingness to improve, as well as a critical reminder of his shortcomings. Katz shows us that dogs are often what we make them: They may have their own traits and personalities, but in the end, they are mirrors of our own lives–living, breathing testaments to our strengths and frustrations, our families and our pasts.
The Dogs of Bedlam Farm recounts a harrowing winter Katz spent on a remote, windswept hillside in upstate New York with a few life-saving friends, ugly ghosts from the past, and more livestock than any novice should attempt to manage. Heartwarming, and full of drama, insight, and hard-won wisdom, it is the story of his several dogs forced Katz to confront his sense of humanity, and how he learned the places a dog could lead him and the ways a doge could change him.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Read Marley & Me Instead.......2007-08-23
This man buys animals and then punishes them because he doesn't understand their nature. Dogs are pack animals and there can only be one alpha dog, one beta dog, etc. He gives away his dog Homer because his other dog Orson takes over the role of alpha dog and Homer falls in line. He buys sheep and donkeys without first understanding their needs either in care or diet. He is looking for emotional bonding with these animals, but he is not willing to bond to them, nor any human member of his family. He blames his emotional problems on his father, but he is a 56 year old man. You are an adult now Mr. Katz, get over it. This "book" is more of a journal of his self-indungent complaints. I quit half way through the book with a very poor opinion of this man. Sell the farm, Mr. Katz and invest in some good psychotherapy, or read Marley & Me to see what real dog-human bonding looks like.
I'm a cat person, not a dog person, but..........2007-05-23
Some dogs, including Jon Katz's, deserve 5 stars.
As a future farm-owner, and possibly even a dog-owner, I'm following Katz' adventures in his memoirs with a large amount of glee. He's not afraid to take pratfalls on the public page, and he has a really large heart. Not to mention he's a great writer, and he had me following this memoir out to its conclusion in about two days!
You don't have to love dogs, sheep, or donkeys to appreciate Katz's writing and his perspectives.
Excellent material, and I'm looking forward to his new book coming out in about a month.
Very Offensive.......2007-03-31
I've lived in the area that Jon Katz writes about my entire life and it's quite obvious to me that he has absolutely no clue what he's talking about. Not only does he speak about people in the area like they're all ignorant idiots, making comments about "the locals," he manages to blatantly lie more than once. He seems to be under the impression that there aren't any purebred dogs in the area, which is one of the biggest loads of crap I've ever heard of in my life.
Not only is his attitude about the AREA offensive, but even his attitude about dogs is offensive. Entirely forgetting his previous book, A Dog Year, where he threw things at his dog Orson and terrified him into submission, he seems to think that a dog is incapable of love and has a quite obvious belief that a dog's life is of less worth than that of a human being. I don't know how anyone who has read these books can let him keep a dog, considering his attitude and behavior. Then he has the gall to say that no one loves their dogs like he loves his. Moreover, these books, which are supposed to be about dogs, are not. They are about him studying himself through his interactions with his dogs, a self-worship that is rather disgusting.
The only reason I gave this book two stars instead of one is because despite his sheer idiocy, he is a good writer. The writing is fluid and almost has a dream-like quality. He's really one of the best writers I've ever read. If only he weren't such an jerk...
a whiny and self indulgent green acres with the ghosts of dogs.......2007-02-20
If you are reading this for the dogs, be prepared to be horrified. Katz's track record with dogs in past and future books, including this one, is not good. His care is little short of abysmal. Here, Katz buys a farm in the country, the better to cash in on dog writing, border collies and herding being trendy and hot, something people will be sure to spend money on, particularly if the book has a nice cover.
But this is a fundamentally dishonest work. He writes books about himself, disguised as dog books. Here he admits he doesn't much like dogs, except his own (and we see how he cares for those). He doesn't worry about their care (they run down the highway beside his farm, fodder for cars and trucks). His training: screaming and throwing things, etc, is pretty close to abuse. But he believes the dogs are there to make him a better human. This farm is the great experiment to rehab him. The dogs pay the price. If the dog is an easy one, like Rose, or his past labs (which were trained by someone else) he gets along with them, until they get sick. Then they get the quick needle. If they are troubled dogs, he gives them away or euthanizes them. Even Orson his "soulmate and forever dog" gets the needle, after being driven nearly insane by renovators at the farm. But that's the next book. He lives apart from his wife because his needs come above his families'. He complains his sister isn't interested in his life, but he admits he doesn't care to be interested in hers, which largely revolves around her dogs. He says how jealous he is that she will drive to pick up a needy dog, but won't drive to see him. This is a grown man, mind you. He buys a farm and fills it with animals, fodder, of course for his writing, but whines constantly about having to care for them, the cold, his barn chores, dogs being dogs (eating donkey poop) etc, and just about everything else. He believes in doublespeak, thinking that if he talks about how he loves his dogs,that's what people will believe, in spite of the litany of neglect, abuse, and disinterest in dealing with anything but easy dogs. When a dog becomes too much trouble, he justifies his neglect or abuse by saying he wants to keep dogs in the proper perspective in his life. Or they're gotten rid of. The dogs arre there to make a quick buck from, and when they develop a problem, they disappear one way or another and he gets a new one with lightning speed. He needs to keep those dogs coming for the next book on the assembly line.
After several hundred pages of whining, this book ends with seven of eight sentences beginning with "I ". With Katz, it is all me, me, me. If you want to read a book by a self-indulgent, self-centered and selfish man this is your book. He'll be happy to take your money. Don't fall too in love with the poor dogs, though, because they never last. You won't find any old dogs on Katz's farm. Don't expect to find a kinship with Katz, either, given he admits he doesn't like other dogs, dog people, dog activities or sports. But he gets testy if you don't like his books.
By the way, they're making a movie about Orson -- too bad that the dog didn't live to see it. Look for him not in the movie, but under a headstone, a victim of Katz' farm renovations. The "dog room" got renovated, courtesy of your royalty dollars. But when Katz left Orson loose to continually deal with a flood of renovators brushing past him, he didn't understand why the dog's aggression increased in a herding dog bred to protect his property and left to fend them off by himself. So farm got renovated; the dog got a new "dog room" six feet under. Hey at least the farm looked nice when they went to make the movie about the dog, and that's what was important to Katz.
Do yourself a favor, and also end the revolving dog door on Katz's farm by passing this tripe by.
Bedlam Farm.......2007-02-20
This was the first of Jon Katz's books that I was introduced to. I am hooked! I have read the all of his "dog" books now and love each of them. His ability to share his life, his journey, and the transitions that he has made are an inspiration to me. This book is a treasure and I highly recommend it.
Book Description
Lee and Ted are a young, hip New York City couple living together in New York City whose lives consist of nothing but cool work assignments, long lunches, and evenings out with their equally hip and trendy friends. But, not yet feeling quite equipped for life or love, they’re vague about plans for “the future.” “Our relationship is like a French movie,” Lee tells a friend. “There’s a lot of interesting character development, but no plot.”
One summer weekend, Lee and Ted stop at an animal shelter. They've always wanted a dog, and perhaps if they commit themselves to a loving pet, they reason, their lives will become more rooted. When they meet and fall in love with Rex, a beautiful, lively spaniel of mysterious origins abandoned on Doggie Death Row, they elatedly adopt him and bring him home, expecting to be flooded with doggie gratitude and exuberance. But Rex doesn’t romp and wiggle happily like the yellow Labs in Alpo commercials. He doesn’t greet Lee and Ted with exuberance or fetch The New York Times. Instead, Rex is unlike any dog the couple has ever known–he clearly loathes his new owners, their friends, their apartment, and New York City. He terrorizes everyone he encounters (even the friendly librarian who lives next door) and runs away every chance he gets. Lee and Ted are flummoxed. How have they ended up with the only dog on the planet who won’t offer unconditional love?
The couple question whether they can handle this dog, especially in New York City. They can’t agree on how to train him–while Ted wants to use the “hand-corrective method,” Lee prefers a nurturing approach. Consequently, Rex’s behavior doesn’t improve much in the first few months. And Lee and Ted’s relationship doesn’t improve either–they begin to argue constantly. But the twosome refuse to give up on their pooch. As Rex becomes more doglike, they begin to take delight in Rex’s antics and signs of progress: his first nonviolent dog-run experience, his first Halloween costume contest, his first kiss. And as they witness their pet’s gradual transformation from a wounded, fearful puppy into a confident, free-spirited dog, Lee and Ted’s relationship also transforms, as their commitment to the dog seals their commitment to each other.
Lee Harrington writes with an open heart, in prose that is witty, insightful, and poignant. Ultimately a love story between humans and animals alike, Rex and the City is a hilarious and riotous romp of a memoir.
Customer Reviews:
A cute,funny.really good book!.......2007-06-26
I just started reading BARK magazine and saw this advertised and had to order it as I read ANYTHING about dogs I can find....I loved it...It is hysterically funny and I finished it in about 2 days I enjoyed it so much! If you have a shelter dog or a rescue dog you should definitely read it as you will relate to so much....The baby talk we all start to use upon getting a dog-especially a fearful one was really funny.(I do it too)!!! Highly recommended!
Really good book!.......2006-09-16
I just finished reading this book and I loved it! I've read Rex and the City stories in The Bark mag and I've always enjoyed them so when I read in The Bark that Lee Harrington had a book coming out based on the same stories I couldn't wait to read it. If you're a dog lover you will certainly enjoy this book! I saw my self, my husband and my dogs in this story and laughed through out the book. My husband is reading it now!!
hilarious, heartwarming and DEFINATELY worth reading.......2006-05-18
I have two rescued dobermans and went through a h*ll of a time trying to help them get used to their new homes.
This book had me in tears, both becuase i was laughing so hard at how funny her descriptions are, but also I cried sometimes, because what she says about dogs, and about people with dogs, is so true and real. Rescuing dogs sure can be hard. But this is a great story!! Just wait and see what a terrific dog "rex" turns into, and how the author turns into a terrific person as well. I am giving copies to all my dog-loving friends. and i hear there is a Volume II coming out, i can't wait for that one.
the sign.......2006-05-03
I haven't finished this book yet, but I've read the Rex and they City column in Bark magazine, so I know something about the story line.
Anyway, I found the following part amusing (these two people have just gotten a dog and right away they are doubting what they've done):
-----
"Can we do it?" I said to Ted. "Can we take him back?"
"I think we're going to have to," he said.
[...]
"I just wish there were a sign," I said. "Some sign, some guarantee that it's not always going to be like this. If he'll love us some day. That there'll be some reward."
Rex was lying on the floor as I said this, and he had begun to lick his privates in a loud and rather lewd way. Rex glanced at me suspiciously and belched. Then he went back to licking himself.
"There's your sign," Ted said.
----
Heh. I don't think I have ever heard a dog burp. If I had asked for a sign and my dog burped at that exact moment, I'm pretty sure I would have taken him back.
They don't take the dog back, though. I guess that's because he burped in chapter 2 and the book wasn't finished. Smart dog not to burp in a later chapter.
Not everyone likes this kind of humor, but if you do you might like this book.
The best dog memoir I have ever read!! it's hilarious.......2006-04-26
Rex and the City is the best dog memoir I have ever read!!! And it seems to me that the reviewer above missed an important point. Ms. Harrington has written an honest, poignant book about her experiences rescuing a shelter dog. The author admits, from the very first chapter, that before she got the dog she was rather misguided and self-absorbed-and this is the very thing that the viewer above is criticizing her for. But I think the author was very brave to admit her shortcomings-she discusses her fears and insecurities and poor judgment she felt as a woman in her thirties. She discusses her insecurities about feeling she is not a good enough person to take care of her dog. And because she is so honest, Harrington subjects herself to the very sort of criticism the reviewer above subjected her to. (the reviewer calls her "uninteresting" and a "fool"). But who hasn't been a fool in life? To admit this, and to write a memoir about it, is very brave indeed. And very real. The best thing about REX AND THE CITY is that the author overcomes a lot of her shortcomings, all because she rehabilitated this dog. In rescuing Rex, she ultimately rescued herself. And that, in my mind, is an inspiring story- for dog lovers and insecure women alike. The dog showed Ms. Harrington what it feels like to receive unconditional love. And we could all use more of that. A lot of people believe, erroneously, that we can find happiness through material things. And it is a big epiphany to realize only love can buy happiness. I recommend this book highly.
Average customer rating:
- Dull
- wonderful evocation of chinese american childhood
- One of the best multicultural books I read this year
- A tiny jewel of a book
- Great for any girl seeking her cultural identity
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The Year of the Dog
Grace Lin
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
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ASIN: 0316060003 |
Book Description
Its the Chinese Year of the Dog, and as Pacy celebrates with her family, she finds out that this is the year she is supposed to find herself. As the year goes on, she struggles to find her talent, makes a new best friend, and discovers just why the Year of the Dog is a lucky one for her after all. Universal themes of friendship, family, and finding ones passion in life make this novel appealing to readers of all backgrounds. This funny and profound book is a wonderful debut novel by prolific picture book author and illustrator Grace Lin, and has all the makings of a modern classic.
Customer Reviews:
Dull.......2007-07-18
This book was so dull that I couldn't finish it. There was no hook, no adversity for the protagonist, and the story was dull. The writing is average at best. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't.
wonderful evocation of chinese american childhood.......2007-06-27
really enjoyed this chapter book, and can't wait to read it to my daughter. simply and warmly told.
One of the best multicultural books I read this year.......2006-12-30
The Year of the Dog would be a GREAT read aloud or literature circle book in second through fifth grade classrooms. Teachers and children can discuss: "What culture(s) are you a part of" and "How do you feel about trying to fit in?" Grace's mom shares wonderful short stories throughout the book to help Grace learn and understand where she is from.
But my favorite thing about this book is that I can use it as a mentor text to teach writing. Grace struggles coming up with a writing idea (as many kids do) and experiences writer's block. She finally realizes that she should write about her own life as a Chinese-American. Grace talks about the many revisions she has to make as she writes her picture book. This book is a must for elementary teachers.
A tiny jewel of a book.......2006-07-02
This year I have decided to read as many really good children's books published in 2006 as humanly possible. This means that I pay particularly close attention to the books my co-workers (other children's librarians) promote loudly. One of the first titles this year that received such promotion was a little politely perfect story by the name of, "The Year of the Dog". So delicate as to come across as almost fragile, this is one of those books that makes stories out of a minimum of words. You will not find any excess to this story. No long-winded exposition or sentences written solely for the purpose of filling the page. Instead, this is a finely honed and delicately crafted title that is bound to be enjoyed by vast hoards of children, should it ever fall into their hands. You job? See that it does.
It's the Year of the Dog, and Pacy has just learned that this is the year she's supposed to "find herself" and make new friends. This means that a person will need a lot of luck, and fortunately she has that in spades. For example, there's a new girl in school. A new girl who's exactly Pacy's age and who, just like her, is Taiwanese-American. Her name is Melody and instantly she and Pacy become best friends. Together, the two experience everything from school tryout and a book contest to figuring out which boy they like and what to dress up as for Halloween. As the year goes by, there's plenty to do and plenty to learn.
What really gives this book a push past other children's books out there is just how kid-friendly it is. Whether she's discussing a science fair project or trying out for the school play, Lin seems to have an uncanny knack for tapping into the heads of children. The characters befriend one another, have small fights, and go through the usual steps of kids of that age. There is a gentleness to Lin's storytelling too. You know that when the new Taiwanese girl comes to class, she's not going to reject Pacy's advances for friendship. And then there are the tiny pen-and-ink drawings that illustrate the story. From the step-by-step instructions of "How to draw a dog" (the same one you see on the book's cover) to The Wizard of Oz curtain call or a single twinkie, Lin's pictures fill out a precise little story with precise little illustrations.
Now I made the serious mistake of reading, "The Year of the Dog", while my plane sat for four hours on a New Orleans tarmac through both lunch and dinnertime. I would like to advise you to never ever read this book if your tummy is grumbling. From the moment the book opens on Chinese New Year to feast after feast after feast, you're going to find your salivation glands filling mighty fast while reading this story. Have you ever read the descriptions of food in the Laura Ingalls Wilder's, "Little House" books? Well that's the kind of evocative description you're going to discover when Lin talks about some of the tastiest Taiwanese dishes out there.
For Taiwanese kids growing up in America, it's tough to figure out the politics of something as simple as their own culture. Are they Taiwanese? Chinese? Lin does a magnificent job of simplifying the situation for children without downplaying the importance of the topic or making it seem unimportant. She even makes the daring choice of having her main character teased for not being Taiwanese enough. Issues like this are given enough room so that the kids reading the book can think through the difficult situations and maybe find fault with the narrator's perceptions. For example, Pacy at one point says that could never be a character in the school production of, "The Wizard of Oz", because who's ever heard of a Taiwanese munchkin? Lin shows this to be a silly concern without having some didactic character push their way onto the page and deliver the obligatory you-can-be-whatever-you-want-to-be speech all too common in children's literature. Consider this author capable of something a little classier and a little smarter than great grand sweeping statements such as that.
It's rare to find any book as small and intelligent as this little novel. For those readers who like chapter books but still need pictures, "The Year of the Dog" fills a definite need. Probably one of the more beautiful books to come out this or any other year. It's required reading.
Great for any girl seeking her cultural identity.......2006-03-22
Grace Lin's debut novel, "The Year of the Dog", centers around a little girl named, well, Grace Lin. The author admits this book is based on her childhood as a budding artist and Taiwanese American growing up in Upstate New York.
"...this is the book I wished I had growing up," Lin relates on the back cover flap.
The clever storyline interweaves old traditions with new ones. The book is structured with stories inside of stories. Interludes such as "How My Name Changed from Pacy to Grace" and "Mom's First Day of School" meld backstory with the plot of a remarkable little girl with a big heart.
What makes this book highly relatable to young girls is the protagonist's real-life quest to find herself. Using the Chinese Year of the Dog as the framework for the story, Lin builds the book around an entire year filled with celebrations, school projects and relationships.
I would have liked to see more external dialogue about how others viewed the little girl, Grace. The author made it sound as if only the protagonist herself was conflicted. I was left wondering if her non-Asian classmates, teachers and community were always as accepting of her as she portrayed them to be. She dismissed this topic by creating her best friend, Melody Ling, the only other Asian-American girl in school.
As a non-Asian American, I found the illustrations enlightening. For instance, Lin depicts her grandmother with her tiny feet which, according to Chinese tradition, had been bound as a child. She shows the picture of a pioneer doll which no doubt had blonde hair and blue eyes. The classic misunderstanding of what both mother and daughter mean by a china doll underscores the painful realization of being caught between several cultural worlds.
This book is instructive and empowering for young girls. I recommend it as a resource for anyone struggling to find herself in today's motley world.
Christine Louise Hohlbaum, American author of "Diary of a Mother" and "SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe", lives near Munich, Germany, with her husband and two children. Subscribe to her parenting newsletter at http://www.diaryofamother.com.
Book Description
An enchanting comedy of manners (with dogs!) from one of our most treasured writers
Cathleen Schine’s brilliantly funny new novel revolves around one city block in Manhattan, a quiet little block near Central Park kept humble by rent control. Living on a street like this in New York with a dog is like living in a tiny village, one that has a rhythm all its own. Dogs bring people together unexpectedly, people who would otherwise never meet. And the dogs act as cupids for the quiet, struggling, sometimes lonely, eccentric people, the old and the young, male and female; the people who live on the block, who are, in their ways, romantics, as all New Yorkers secretly tend to be. Walking her dog, Beatrice, Jody falls under the spell of Everett’s bewitching smile. Everett begins to appreciate his postdivorce life only when he falls in love with Howdy, Polly’s puppy. Polly lives with her brother, George, and wants him to fall in love. George isn’t so much looking for a love life as for life direction, and Howdy leads him right to it. Doris hates the trash on her block, she hates the pee on her SUV’s large tires, and, above all, she hates dogs. That is, until she gets one of her own.
In The New Yorkers, as in life, canine companions compel their masters to go outside of themselves, to take part in the community they live in, to make friends, and, sometimes, to fall in love. And Schine returns to what she does best: crafting a compulsively readable, elegantly written novel that seduces in the way we were once seduced by The Love Letter, Schine’s beloved classic.
Customer Reviews:
Charming, well-written story.......2007-09-07
This was a sweet story, simply told, about a group of New Yorkers and how they interact and affect one another: Jody, a cheerful woman in her late 30s who should be played by Meg Ryan in the movie version; Jamie, a charming gay restaurateur; Everett, an aloof but well-meaning bachelor; Simon, a social worker whose heart is in Virginia; Polly, a young woman with an especially commanding voice; and George, Polly's feckless but lovable brother. The book follows these characters' emotional growth and relationships over the course of a year.
I enjoyed this book immensely, despite its slow pace. And it didn't really matter, because it's the kind of novel you want to savor. I was sorry when it ended.
Nicole Roberts lends drama and interest to the story.......2007-09-03
Nicole Roberts lends drama and interest to the story of Jody, who falls under the spell of one Everett as he's walking her dog - and Everett, who has fallen in love with Polly's puppy. Canine romance, companions, and post-divorce angst blend in a funny story even dog haters will relish.
Didn't grab me.......2007-08-30
Ehhh. I was not impressed. I never successfully became attached to any of the characters. And, for a "Day in the Life" type story of a group of New Yorkers, the language was far too cerebral than your every day conversation, which is what I think the author was shooting for.
I had high hopes for this book, being that its about two of my favorite topics - animals and New York, and was not impressed at all. Better luck next time Ms. Schine
Really wanted to like this book.......2007-08-26
But, alas, it was not to be. The pace is painfully slow. I only cared about one of the characters and I gave up on her too. I grabbed this book because of the cover and the title, but that, does not a story make.
Happy with the product!.......2007-08-23
Book arrived quickly, in great condition. Everything was as it was described. Couldn't be more pleased. Would certainly order again.
Customer Reviews:
A Charming Book by a "Lucky Man".......2007-09-07
I had never read a Jon Katz book until a few days ago when "Dog Days" arrived from Amazon having been ordered as a result of hearing Katz interviewed on the radio by Laura Ingraham. Rather than talking about things political they were talking mostly about dogs. Katz also briefly described his home in upstate NY which he has named Bedlam Farm. Apparently for good reason as one will realize upon reading this book and apparently, others.
Bedlam Farm is basically a "hobby farm." Nothing is raised or grown on it that supports it's inhabitants, either two legged or four footed. However, it is a hard hobby that Katz has embarked on. The farm is old, having been built around the time of the Civil War and it's buildings are in great need of attention. At present also inhabiting the farm are four dogs, four donkeys, two steers, a cat, several sheep, a rooster and some hens. His wife Paula, a college professor, reporter, soon to be author and committed urbanite splits her time between the farm and the rest of her life.
Fortunately Katz has the resources to live this type of life which involves much hard work which sometimes wreaks havoc on his aging body, but seems to sustain him through good times and bad.
Dog Days is a series of stories about the goings on of the farm and it's occupants. Katz has an endearing way of understanding his animals from a literary point of view and there is much humor and warm feeling in his writing.
I found it to be a very relaxing and rewarding read and a nice break from many of the types of books I find myself enthralled with. My wife and I are dog people, owning two of our own and living in the country. I cannot imagine a home without two dogs. I am glad for Katz that he has added many other animals to the mix and that he finds the life he has carved out of his hundred acrea or so of upper New York state to be so rewarding. I was delighted to share his account of it vicariously and I suspect many of you will also.
Dog Days review.......2007-09-06
What a wonderful, eminently readable account of the goings-on at the author's farm. Highly amusing and thoughtful as well.
Really good book for dog lovers .......2007-08-27
This was a really good book for dog lovers. I enjoyed it very mucy.
Katz on Dogs again.......2007-08-24
Jon Katz, a man who knows dogs and other animals, has at last found his place on an old farm in upstate New York, just over the border from Vermont. There he tends critters, fences, and pastures with occasionally time for a few humans in need. His introspective nature lends itself to loving and living with and writing about animals, and this introspection and hard-won philosophical outlook on life permeates each paragraph. These are insights not casually come by or lightly offered. You don't have to agree with him, but he is offering thoughts worthy of our consideration and discussion.
In this recent book, readers meet the inhabitants of Bedlam Farm:
Elvis, the atypically-friendly 1,800-pound bull, who will remind you of the fictional bull named Ferdinand; the hyperactive border collies Rose and Izzy; the laid-back, lovable Labs Clementine and Pearl; Mother, the barn cat; Jesus, the unexpected donkey; well, you get the idea.
This is a warm, feel-good book that will send you to bed with happy thoughts. Animals are good company and so is this book about them.
The World According to Katz.......2007-08-19
The more I read Katz, the more I've decided his often contradictory statements are most likely him bending the truth or altering the facts to illustrate his (often contradictory) points. So in one book, a dog may be described as being a talented herder. In another book, that same dog is then said to not have mastered a very rudimentary skill any sheep dog would need. But in the second book, Katz is now illustrating what a phenomenon his dog Rose is because she immediately mastered that basic skill right out the gate. The fact that many dogs show the exact same ability their first time on sheep is never mentioned because that would distract from Katz's point that Rose is exceptionally gifted.
Examples like this abound even in the same book. Katz appears unaware of his contradictions or else he has so little respect for his readers that he doesn't think they'll notice. Or maybe in his world, whatever he says at a given moment is the truth even if tomorrow there will be a completely different truth.
In Katz's world, anyone who doesn't agree with his approach to training his dogs how to herd is a "Border Collie Snob" (BCS's). He goes on to describe BCS's as expensively dressed people, dripping money, who travel to Scotland regularly. Now Katz lives in a different section of the States than I do, but the working (herding) Border Collie folks I know dress for farm work, never discuss money and don't generally travel other than to herding trials.
Katz goes on to proclaim his approach to training is better than that of BCS's because he doesn't repeatedly click a clicker at his dog when her head is turned just so at the sheep. Again, Katz and I live in different parts of the country, but no one I know clicker trains sheep dogs. The sheep are the reward for any dog with decent instinct and ability. I doubt if a good Border Collie around sheep would even notice a clicker, or for that matter, meatballs thrown at his head. I'm willing to believe that there are people out there, probably with dogs who have little to no instinct, who train the way Katz described. Still, after reading so many of what appear to be falsehoods in his writings, I have to wonder if that isn't just one more made up story on his part. "See?" Katz seems to be saying. "I'm a much better trainer/person than those jerks who don't agree with my methods!"
Going to his website to watch videos of his dogs working sheep raise further doubts -- and eyebrows. Rose, who he describes as such a fantastic sheep dog, is seen running without the slightest direction and taking cheap shots such as biting a sheep on the neck. I saw a lot of chasing (the kind my dog was trained not to do at his very first lesson), no control (the dogs just burst out after the sheep instead of being sent) and Katz going on about what great instincts Border Collies have. Honestly, you don't need a Border Collie to harass livestock the way his "trained" dogs are doing.
Repeatedly in Dog Days, Katz describes people coming to his farm and telling him what a wonderful little world he has created, how well he treats his animals, what joy he is bringing to those lucky enough to witness it. I see enough thrilled reviews of his books to believe that may be the case. The farm does look very nice in the book's photos. However, I cringe at much of what he does with his dogs for whom he feels he is providing such a great life. A good deal of what his interactions with them seems very selfish and ego driven.
A typical example is Katz bringing Rose home from several days at the vet's with strict instruction to keep her quiet and not working. As fate would have it, Katz gets a call exactly as he is driving the recuperating Rose home, requesting help for a cow that got loose and is in danger of getting onto a busy road. Katz sanctimoniously explains that livestock at risk is a very serious matter. I don't disagree, but I do think your dog's health and consequently her longevity matter too. But this is an opportunity for Katz to put a spot light on Rose's skills -- and coincidentally on him as her owner/trainer -- so they ride to the rescue, where Rose gets matters under control in minutes. If he says so, fine, now will he take the dog home and settle her quietly the way the vet ordered? Oh, no. First Katz must send her to get his sheep at the farm before he will finally allow her to rest the way she needs after being very ill. He uses the Border Collie's drive to work as his excuse for not protecting and caring for Rose as she deserves. I guess it isn't any wonder that none of Katz's dogs seem to live or stay with him past the age of 8.
If Katz wants to write fiction, that's one thing. But too much of his memoirs, what one would assume is nonfiction, just don't ring true in the end. Katz would have us believe that Rose is much more talented than most of the trial dogs, but he never takes Rose to a trial to see what she can do there. He writes Rose can do things at the farm that dogs never do at trials. That actually is true, but what he leaves out is many if not most of those trial dogs do the same sorts of chores and daily work Katz says Rose does. But to acknowledge that would be to take away from how special Rose is and by extension how special Katz is as her enlightened and wise owner.
In the end, that is what is pathetic about Katz. He insists that he is training in a way that is more fun and satisfying for his dog. However, he offers as evidence a bizarre example of "serious" trainers obsessively clicker training tiny behaviors that in reality would only detract from a dog's ability to herd. He says that Rose is exceptionally talented, then posts videos of his experienced, amazing dog harassing sheep the way you'd expect a new, untrained dog to do. What's more, you'd want to prevent or at least stop the new dog from "herding" that way, but Katz is either blissfully unaware of what his dog is doing in front of his eyes or figures his audience won't understand how badly his dog is behaving toward the poor sheep.
I still haven't figured out if Katz truly believes his contradictory writings or if he's perfectly happy to fool and mislead those who are unfamiliar with Border Collies, stock work and farm life. When he writes at the beginning of Dog Days, "No dogs die in this book," is he reassuring upset readers of A Good Dog or taunting his critics? I can see it being either way. With Katz, I can see it being both ways, depending on his mood and the day.
Next, I hear we are to be treated to a book by Katz on whether animals have souls. Given that he has often stated he doesn't believe they do yet has repeatedly consulted an animal communicator who "talks" to his dogs both alive and dead, I can only imagine the confusing, contradictory writing that awaits us.
Book Description
A New York Review Books Original
A master anthology of Russia’s most important poetry, newly collected and never before published in English
In the years before the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Stray Dog cabaret in St. Petersburg was the haunt of poets, artists, and musicians, a place to meet, drink, read, brawl, celebrate, and stage performances of all kinds. It has since become a symbol of the extraordinary literary ferment of that time. It was then that Alexander Blok composed his apocalyptic sequence “Twelve”; that the futurists Velimir Khlebnikov and Vladimir Mayakovsky exploded language into bold new forms; that the lapidary lyrics of Osip Mandelstam and plangent love poems of Anna Akhmatova saw the light; that the electrifying Marina Tsvetaeva stunned and dazzled everyone. Boris Pasternak was also of this company, putting together his great youthful hymn to nature, My Sister, Life.
It was a transforming moment—not just for Russian but for world poetry—and a short-lived one. Within little more than a decade, revolution and terror were to disperse, silence, and destroy almost all the poets of the Stray Dog cabaret.
Customer Reviews:
A Forgotten Flowering.......2007-08-04
The poets here are the more prominent Futurists (Vladimir Mayakovsky, Velimir Khlebnikov, Boris Pasternak) and Acmeists (Osip Mandelstam, Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva) as well as the "hooligan" poet Sergei Esenin and the great late-Symbolist Alexander Blok. Though Pasternak is well known (if mostly for "Zhivago") and though a good many readers who are familiar with the crimes of Lenin and Stalin might know something *about* Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, and Mandelstam, my strong suspicion is that most of these people aren't very widely read in the English-speaking world.
This is a shame. These poets were part of the last wave of a Russian renaissance that stretched well back into the Nineteenth Century. In the generations before the Symbolists and Acmeists, we find another splendid set of writers--Fet, Tyutchev, Gippius, Annensky--as well as some very fine painters and composers. Partly because of the difficulties of rendering Russian verse into English, and partly because communists and fellow travelers would later present pre-Bolshevik Russia as a uniformly vulgar and repressive hell-hole, this cultural flowering has largely been forgotten. Paul Schmidt (who died in 1999) and the editors of this collection should be commended for doing what they can to refresh our memories.
Can one find nits to pick? Well, sure.
Schmidt's strength as a translator is capturing the flavor of this group of poets, and there are times when this leads him to sacrifice a lot more of the sense than I would like. Schmidt introduces, with little success, American street slang into Blok's "Twelve." In Khlebnikov's "When the winking wax-wings whistle," Schmidt's inclusion of "mockingbird" is ludicrous on both linguistic and ornithological grounds. In Mayakovsky's "Me," Schmidt actually *invents* the insipid refrain, "And it makes / me / cry," a decision that made / me / cringe.
Speaking of "Twelve," I suppose it had to be included here because of its fame, but I have never been able to understand the reason for the poem's high standing, especially when so much of Blok is so much more pellucid and powerful. I have similar feelings about Tsvetaeva's "Poem of the End," and it is unfortunate that these longish poems take up so much space in "The Stray Dog Cabaret."
But enough nitpicking. There is an awful lot to admire in such a slender volume. The collection starts well, with a stark imagistic piece by Blok. There are several strong Mandelstam poems in here: "This life of constant thrills will drive us crazy," "Somebody gave me this body," "Insomnia," "Leningrad," "The Poem about Stalin," and "All I want to do is escape the madness here." The Akhmatova selection is good, is mostly free of histrionics, and includes fine renderings of "There were three things in life he loved" and "I drink to the wreck of our life together." Esenin evokes the Russian countryside in a pleasingly mournful way in both "I am leaving my home in the country" and "The Backstreets of Moscow." Though I'm no Mayakovsky fan, his "Suicide Poem" is quite moving in Schmidt's translation. Pasternak's "Thunderstorm for a Moment Forever" is a little lightning-strike of a masterpiece, an example of metaphor helping us re-see the world.
Though I've already mentioned my reservations about "The Poem of the End," some of my favorite poems in here are by Tsvetaeva: "I am an empty page beneath your pen," "It may be that a better way," "Homesickness." But the one I can't get out of my head is "I'd like to live with you / in some small town," with its succession of sharp images from everyday private life.
Less than a year after Tsvetaeva wrote her poem (December, 1916), everyday private life was likely to be seen as counterrevolutionary, and it is impossible to keep the tragedy of the October Revolution out of one's head when reading these poems today. The poems and the history get strangely jumbled together, with beauty and value getting all mixed up with loss and grief and insanity. And one of the most heartbreaking things is that it did *not* require nine decades of reflection to know what was going on. Akhmatova writes, "This is the moment they told us would come some day / when there's nobody alive to hear what we say. / The world is no longer the place it used to be. / Be still, don't break my heart. Be silent, poetry." Here is Tsvetaeva: "I'm still alive. That may be soon / a sin." Here is Mandelstam: "All I want to do is / escape the madness here. / To rise into the light / where I can disappear."
And here is Akhmatova again: "In the west the familiar light still shines / And the spires of cities glow in the sun. / But here a dark figure is marking the houses / And calling the ravens, and the ravens come."
Amazon.com
My Dog Tulip is the ultimate bitch session--in the canine sense of the phrase, of course. In 1947, J.R. Ackerley rescued an 18-month-old German shepherd, and from the start her every look and move were to undo him. "Tulip never let me down. She is nothing if not consistent. She knows where to draw the line, and it is always in the same place, a circle around us both. Indeed, she is a good girl, but--and this is the point--she would not care for it to be generally known." As he anatomizes her from head to toe with the awe-struck precision of a medieval courtier, Ackerley instantly turns us into Tulipomanes. Alas, many of the mere mortals she encounters feel differently, for there are indeed two Tulips. One is highly strung but heroic, flirtatious but true. The other is a four-legged rejoinder to authority: a biter, a barker, and a dab hand at defecating her way around London. Not that any of these are her fault. "You're the trouble," Tulip's one good vet tells Ackerley as she banishes him from the surgery. "She's in love with you, that's obvious. And so life's full of worries for her."
In many ways this 1956 memoir is an intimate saga of human idealism and doggish realism. Or is it the other way around? In any case, this odd couple undertakes a series of adventures, which bring them into contact with a gallery of strange, mostly martial players. There's the taunting Colonel Finch, owner of Gunner, an Alsatian suitor that Tulip finds wanting--and Captain Pugh, who had served with Ackerley in World War I and who even then was a bizarre mixture of efficiency and indolence. Decades later, in "those rare moments when he was not horizontal he would stalk about the farm buildings with great vigor, making pertinent remarks in his military voice and spreading consternation among the cows."
Ackerley stints no detail when it comes to the varieties of Tulip's urinary and anal experience. But he is concerned above all with the canine heart, and the perils of conception and whelping are at his book's center. Tulip's vita amorosa truly is a via dolorosa as she scorns and scants her aristocratic paramours. Finally, "this exquisite creature in the midst of her desire" hears of the call of-- But we shall reveal no more! My Dog Tulip should instantly make its way onto the shelves of lovers of fine dogs (of whichever bloodlines) and finer literature--and doesn't that cover most of humanity? --Kerry Fried
Book Description
J.R. Ackerley's German shepherd Tulip was skittish, possessive, and wild, but he loved her deeply. This clear-eyed and wondering, humorous and moving book, described by Christopher Isherwood as one of the "greatest masterpieces of animal literature," is her biography, a work of faultless and respectful observation that transcends the seeming modesty of its subject. In telling the story of his beloved Tulip, Ackerley has written a book that is a profound and subtle meditation on the strangeness abiding at the heart of all relationships.
Customer Reviews:
My Dog Tulip is a Classic.......2007-07-05
This book was exactly as other reviewers described it; some hated it and others loved it. I was hesitant at first but decided I had to experience it. It is charming and a big reminder of how people viewed dogs in the not so distant past. Tulip's loving owner did not think of using doggie poop bags and struggled for years with where and when she eliminated. He wouldn't hear of spaying her and struggled for years with her coming in season, even having a litter of puppies he didn't want and couldn't find good homes for. All this was delightfully described in a mercifully brief book. I'm glad I read it, although I've read many other books on dogs that were more amusing and more enlightening. It is a wonderful reminder of what things were like in the 1940s and should be on the shelf of every dog lover who also loves books.
Reviewers Trash Classic!!!.......2004-02-18
Who is Kerry Fried, and why is s/he reviewing this classic? I read this book several years ago. As a story of a female shepherd and her owner, it is brutally honest, to the detail. Ackerley as a dog person, seems so indulgent and feeble. While reading, one must be mindful that the events took place in the 40's and in Briton. Perhaps he never had a dog before, and knew no better. Pups, off leash adventures, pooping issues. As subject matter, who but another shepherd lover would care. Who but a post modern dog lover would be appalled at the old fashioned beliefs and attitudes. But, and this is critical, but, the language is beautiful, the sentiment expressed is pure. And the final chapter, and final paragraph, are exquisite. I feel the passing of her life from his own, his long life stretching out so far beyond her sweet existence within it. I love my dog Olk as dearly, and dread his eventual loss.
Nancy
Superb form, distressing content........2004-01-28
Being a dog lover but not a dog owner who believes that it is cruel to keep most dogs in an urban environment, and especially a large dog in a flat as the author did, I found this memoir not to be my cup of tea. Humans are portrayed in it as curious, rather unsympathetic creatures, whilst the dog at the center of his love, is romanticised despite the loving detail with which the author describes the bodily functions of the animal. I can understand though, its appeal to those with an obsession with their dog who find humans too argumentative, contrary or difficult. An instance of "horses for courses" so to speak.
A Real Dog of a Book ... and Not in a Good Way.......2002-11-15
If you want to be immersed in a definitely 1960's I'm-obsessed-with-Freud take on dog ownership from someone who should never have been allowed to own a dog ... if you're dying to discover in ad nauseum detail the fecal and urinary habits of an animal whose owner lacks the least understanding of training a dog ... if you yearn for all the details of the miseries this animal goes through whenever she's in heat, this is the book for you.
One has to wonder at the dark workings of Ackerley's psyche. There's a strident and distressing pornographical note that sounds throughout the book as he writes of his beloved Tulip. Here he is, writing of the first time she goes into heat: "I was enchanted. That small dark bud, her vulva, became gradually swollen and more noticeable amid the light gray fur of her thighs as she walked ahead of me, and sometimes it would set up, I supposed, a tickle or a trickle or some other sensation, for she would suddenly squat down in the road and fall to licking it. At such moments I could see how much lager it had grown and the pretty pink of its lining ... I felt very sweet toward her. She also felt very sweet towards me." He goes on to describe in great detail how she mounts his leg and what that's like for the 2 of them. And it's not as if this is a one-time thing.
No, folks, the ENTIRE book is a treatise detailing such events: "Now, squatting here and there upon other dogs' droppings... like some famous chef adding to a prepared dish the final exquisite flavor, the crowning touch, she left behind her in the snow as she flew a series of sorbets, and her crazed attendants were so often and so long delayed in licking them up that they eventually fell far behind."
This is not exactly the kind of thing I care to discover about an animal, however charming the dog herself might be. But what REALLY disturbed me was the misery Ackerley put this poor animal through in his obsession to find her "a husband." Worse still, once she finally managed to produce a litter, Ackerley's inclination, was to kill all the pups. "In the bathroom ... I prepared a bucket of water and a flour sack weighted with such heavy objects as I could lay my hands on ... How could I distract proud Tulip's attention while I carried out my dark deed? Soon, no doubt, she would wish to relieve nature and my chance would come."
If this is the kind of a boy-and-his-dog relationship you want to know more about, go for it. Personally, I was left feeling I'd exposed myself to the dark workings of a pretty twisted mind, and I wish I hadn't learned there are people of relate to animals the way Ackereley does.
Possibly good for potential dog breeders.......2002-10-05
I liked this book, although as a dog owner I found myself shaking my head and shocked at many of the things that were done with this dog... I do think this is a great book for anyone who is thinking of breeding their dog as it gives a good account of the trials of breeding, raising puppies, and the problems that can occur for the pups and mother.
Book Description
And, as Carmine takes off on her bicycle with Rufus, that is just what she intends to do. But Carmine is a dreamy painter, always in search of capturing just the right hue in her drawings, and this drawingthe one she begins in a lovely forest clearing just off the path to Granny'smust be her best yet. Here is a new, lively retelling of a timeless tale with enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very end.
Customer Reviews:
GREAT RETELLING.......2007-04-12
Fun having the same story brought up to date and a terrific way to show how things change.
Excellent children's book!.......2007-01-06
I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Carmine:A Little More Red"; it is a creative interpretation of a classic. The illustrations are beautiful!! While the vocabulary was too advanced for my 3- and 4-year old children to grasp, the pictures held their attention and I am sure that it will be a treasured book for years to come.
99 red balloons floating in a summer sky.......2006-03-01
Little Red Riding Hood. There is probably more psychological baggage and scintillating undertones associated with this little tale than any other story in the Grimm repertoire. Accordingly, with every year more and more alternate versions and retellings hit the market full force. From James Marshall's classic version to Ed Young's stylized Chinese retelling ("Lon Po Po", in case you're interested), there are more little girls in red hoods out there than you can shake a fist at. "Carmine" is one of the most recent additions to the fold, and it makes for a lovely little read. Bringing together such disparate elements as the alphabet, gradations in color, a heightened sense of tension, and even a recipe at its conclusion, "Carmine" is not the most accessible of Little Red tales out there, but it's certainly one of the most pleasant to thumb through. You're not going to get the straight dope on Little Red with this version, but for the modern kid Sweet's interpretation of the events involving one girl in a hood, one granny, and one wolf makes for a perfectly nice and perfectly new story of its own.
Each plot twist in this book begins with a letter of the alphabet. So the first step in the story comes with the word "Alphabet". Carmine loved going over to her granny's for a little alphabet soup. "Beware". There was a wolf about and Carmine was warned to go straight to granny's and not to dilly-dally. Unfortunately, Carmine is a world class dilly-dallier. There are few dallys she hasn't dillied (or, alternately, dillies she hasn't dallied). Since Carmine is a fan of painting she spots some poppies on her route and decides that granny deserves a picture of them. "It may seem farfetched to think that any painting can be improved by adding a little more red, but Carmine believes it to be true". Unfortunately, the wolf is most certainly about. After a quick conversation with Carmine's terror stricken dog, it heads straight for granny's and catches her unawares. Fortunately for everyone involved, the soup bones by granny's pot strike the carnivore as more enticing than her old creaky ones. Carmine learns her lesson, granny loves her painting, and a fine bowls of alphabet soup are had by all.
The essential conceit of beginning each new thought with a letter of the alphabet is all well and good but there isn't much rhyme or reason to Sweet's choices. All the same, I was a little amazed at how effectively the author cranks up the suspense when the wolf has visited granny and her cry for help has been foreshortened. Adults familiar with the original granny-in-the-belly-of-the-beast versions of this tale will be as relieved as their offspring to learn of her safety. The story itself does, I should add, make the reader think for a moment that the wolf has returned home to its young with its arms full of granny's bones. But however bleak that image, it is quickly remedied by a simple extraction of the old lady from her own closet.
Prior to reading "Carmine", my only other association with Melissa Sweet came with her lovely illustration work done on Catherine Thimmesh's fabulous, "The Sky's the Limit". In that book Sweet conjured up a very satisfying selection of mixed media. "Carmine", similarly, draws upon a variety of different elements. Open the book up and immediately the first thing you see is a collection of color swatches. Each shade of red is spelled out with alphabet soup letters and they have everything from Sienna and Vermillion to Crimson and Magenta. The rest of the book is a combination of cartoon and illustration. Sweet makes continual oblique references to fairy tales and nursery rhymes throughout the story too. For example, the wolf creeps by Little Boy Blue asleep on a haystack and The Three Little Pigs make a brief appearance in a small cartoon panel. What could have come across as haphazard or messy in the hands of another artist merely takes on a rather vibrant and exciting feel under Sweet's direction.
The version of this story that "Carmine" seems the closest to (at least in spirit) would probably be Lisa Campbell Ernst's, "Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Prairie Tale". Both books feature the heroine on a bike on the cover. Both are updated retellings and both end happily for the wolves involved. Both even have recipes for the foods mentioned (muffins in Ernst's, alphabet soup in Sweet's). But while "Carmine" is a far more stylized retelling with a very real sense of tension to it, Ernst's tale makes for a much better readaloud, especially when you take into consideration its homey southern drawl. All the same, "Carmine: A Little More Red" is a lovely modern take on a old story and one that I'm sure many a child (particularly those enamored of the many shades of rouge) will find themselves enjoying.
"Don't dilly dally. Go directly to Granny's.".......2005-10-09
Little Red Riding Hood is reincarnated in this imaginative retelling of a favorite tale, Carmine taught to read by a beloved granny who uses alphabet soup to instruct the child. She started with a spoonful of letters and now Carmine can read a whole bowl. Whenever Granny makes a fresh pot of soup, like today, Carmine is invited for lunch. Before she leaves, Carmine sorts through her clutter for anything she might need on her journey, pencils, paper and paint. Accompanied by her beloved dog, Rufus, Carmine has been known to dilly dally on the way to Granny's house, although she has been warned by her mother that the route is fraught with danger. This time a lurking wolf spots the child, who has stopped to paint a picture for her grandmother, distracted by nature's abundant beauty. Racing ahead... well, you know this story. Luckily for Carmine, her Granny doesn't meet the same fate as the original grandmother, this one hiding in the closet as the hungry wolf gathers an armful of soup bones to take home to his pups. Happily reunited, Carmine, Granny and Rufus sip their soup while admiring Carmine's latest work of art.
The artwork in this book is vivid and imaginative, combined with a layout that introduces new vocabulary words used in context with the illustrations. This artist thinks outside the box, using both visual images and language to inspire young readers, cartoon balloons filled with Carmine and the Wolf's dialog as they confront their situations. Words like pluck, dawdle, mimic and nincompoop add alliterative rhythms, balanced with lively drawings, a bright palette accented with every shade of red: scarlet, carmine and fuscia. A multi-level reading experience, Carmine is a fabulous addition to a child's library, a visual and verbal feast as exuberant as its young heroine. Luan Gaines/ 2005.
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