A book that makes even the most vehement dog hater want to read it
Written: May 23 '02 (Updated May 23 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cute and fun to read
Cons: It's so short, it's over before you know it
The Bottom Line: Daniel Pinkwater never fails to please...
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| sampo24's Full Review: |
With Daniel Pinkwater being one of my favorite authors from childhood, there was no question to my picking up his latest book when I ran across it on the new books shelf at the library. And this is despite the fact that I loathe the main subject of this book. I'm going to come right out and say it. I don't like dogs. They're nasty, smelly, obnoxious, drooling, moronic, flea-infested beasts with no discernable reason for their existence other than to eat their own vomit. And that's certainly nothing to be proud of... I think I'll stick with cats. However, after reading Pinkwater's wistful and often quite funny descriptions of the dogs he's owned throughout his life, it almost made me want a dog for my own... Now that's saying a lot! Of course, I did manage to come to my senses, but he still came pretty close.
Written as a memoir of the dogs and a few other various pets over the course of his life, Pinkwater writes a very entertaining little book. And the size of it is tiny, making it a very quick read. But good things come in small packages and this one is a lot of fun, while managing to convey Pinkwater's absolute love for most of the dogs he's owned. Although the road was not without a few stumbling blocks in his way.
We both had misgivings about Bootsie, Mine were the obvious ones. His, I believe, had to do with the fear that she might not grow up to be sufficiently outlandish and repulsive.
My father need not have worried-what Bootise lacked in the way of deformities and hideousness (not much, really) would be more than made up for by her quirks of personality,
Of course, not all his dogs were that horrible, or I doubt he would have turned into such a dog lover. Daniel Pinkwater simply wanted to live out his childhood dream of owning his very own sled dog, just like the one his Uncle Boris owned when he was a young man in Alaska. Hearing the fantastic tales his father would tell about his uncle's adventures, it's not hard to imagine a young boy with his visions of vast tundras and furry companions to talk to. Instead, his childhood was filled with mutant dogs and psychotic parrots. And the tales of his weird, quirky pets are extremely funny.
After his childhood antecdotes, Pinkwater quickly segues into the many dogs he owned as an adult and their own particular quirks and oddball charm. Even though, as I stated above, I loathe dogs, he even made them seem lovable to me. I could almost imagine allowing one of them to curl up by my feet and drool on my shoes with that goofy, somewhat confused expression of dog-love they usually have plastered on their faces. Tracing the lives of the dogs who shared his home and his own adventures into training dogs (for more on this subject, check out the book Superpuppy, which is the dog training book he and his wife wrote together), Pinkwater does a wonderful p.r. job on his dogs and dogs, in general. And his love for them shines through.
Also, his wife's illustrations are peppered throughout the book, as well as on the book's cover. The whimsical, silly little pen and ink cartoons have a real joy to them and add a lot to the book. I have to admit, they actually made the idea of having one of those big beasts hanging around the house seem kind of nice.
So, in the end, if you're a dog lover, you'll be sure to love this book. It would be the perfect gift for any dog lover, in fact. And if you're a dog hater, you'll still enjoy it. (Even though we still know that cats are the superior animal...) Either way, it's a lot of fun and for a silly book, it's very heartfelt, as well. So no matter, what your position on dogs is, one thing is certain, this book is a winner.
Recommended:
Yes
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sampo24
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Location: Upstate NY
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Iron Chef Tex-Mex
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