Book Review: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Admittedly, I stopped reading books for pleasure during college and had a long dry spell until I resolved to pick up the slack several years ago. My attention span is embarrassingly limited so a book really needs to peak my interest for me to even pick it up. I’m a sucker for stories narrated by emotive animals (can anyone say anthropomorphism) but I’m particularly vulnerable for insightful ones. Such was the case with The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Enzo, a lovable aging dog, tells the story of his owner’s balancing act between his desire to race cars and his commitment to his struggling family. His comedic and painfully accurate assessments of human personalities keep you laughing and cringing at the same time. He also offers a poignant perspective on his own impending death.
Laughter, anger, love, hope, introspection: It all made me fall in love with Enzo. This book will leave you wondering what your own dog is thinking.
Highly recommended.
Thanks! sounds like a good read!
1Anthropomorphism has gotten a bad rap. My dogs talk to me all of the time. I’m trying to get them in the car and Ruffian is over in the corner saying “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. Can’t you smell there is something important over here? Got to me smelled. Be right witcha”
Another great book where the dog talks is “Merle’ Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog” by Ted Kerasote. In the 50s and 60s most dogs had their own social lives. Today laws and social constraints have done away with that. Kerasote reminds us of the old way of living with dogs.
Books also open up to us new ways of thinking about dog communication and abilities. Rupert Sheldrake describes his theory of morphic fields in “Dogs that Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home.” Elizabeth Marshall reports the same phenomena in “The Social Life of Dogs.” And Anthony Burke and John Rendell noticed Christinan the lion seemed to know when they would visit in “A Lion Called Christian” and George Adamson noticed the same thing in “My Pride and Joy.” It amazes me to think there might be an unseen connection between us and the dogs we are connected with.
2I absolutely lovelovelove this book. I’ve lent it out so many times I need a new copy.
Patricia – thanks for the recommendation. I’ve got a book store visit planned today, and Merle’s Door is at the top of my list.
3I have added this book to my list. BTW, can you tell if mentioning it gave it a bump on Amazon? Seems to be selling quite well.
4I doubt my mentioning it made a huge difference. It was already a NY Times Bestseller. It’s a great book. Enjoy!
5I certainly liked this book better than Marley & Me (which I didn’t like at ALL), but I found the main character, Enzo, TOO human. It was a little weird. (Although I love the part where he unknowingly disembowels one of the kid’s toys.) I’m also not into car racing at all, and using it as a metaphor to live one’s life was a little too in-my-face to be appreciated. I feel kinda bad about coming down so hard on this book, but it is what it is.
6If you enjoy reading and book reviews, you may enjoy GoodReads.com – I love it!