My name is Enzo and my master’s name is Denny. He named me after the famous race car driver Enzo "the Commendatore" Ferrari. Have you heard of the Italian sports car Ferrari? Well, he is one in the same, and one day my master will have a car named after him.
Denny is a great race car driver. He has a unique skill that makes him a desirable team member. He can race in the rain. Wet conditions on the track do not scare him; actually, he perfected a maneuver which allows him to accelerate through the turns. Denny is a natural at finding the curve’s apex and shooting for the exit.
For the first year of my life it was Denny and I alone. Life was quieter with daily walks in the park and plenty of fetch then we stumbled upon Eve. Her hairlessness didn’t appeal to me, but they soon married and Zoe entered our family a year later.
Life was good. I spent my time watching over the fascinating Zoe. She filled my nose with all kinds of baby scents; plus, it was rather fun watching someone else teethe for a while. I kept company with Eve while she cooked in the kitchen and every so often she gave me little tastes; although, I never begged—that was for lower class dogs. And Denny didn’t treat me differently now that there were more people vying for his attention. He was a true gentleman master.
Unfortunately, there was down time when I was left alone for long periods such as when they had to work. I would amble from room to room looking for entertainment but none was to be found. I was literally bored to death then Denny noticed me watching television. Oh, I thank the day he decided to leave it on while he went to work. My vocabulary really blossomed during these periods. Too bad my tongue wasn’t designed for speech.
If I could talk, I would be able to warn Eve. I would explain my heightened sense of smell and the unmistakable scent of death coming from her ears and nose. I would tell Denny something bad was eating her brain. I would scream, “See an oncologist!” Man, if I had thumbs, I would drive her to the hospital myself. Why was I only a dog?
These are my words as Enzo the narrator of Garth Stein’s new book titled “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” I highly recommend this read. I was awake into the wee hours crying while reading the last two chapters. Not yet spring and I may have read the best book of the year; although, I did have one slight problem. Enzo’s vocabulary will rival that of a scholar. Scary to think my dog may be smarter than me.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
The Art of Racing in the Rain (copy)
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11 comments:
A book from the dog's viewpoint? How can I resist!
How clever but the sadness!
Was it better than Marley and Me? Or is that an unfair comparison?
I just know you will love it, Jeane! :D
Keetha, the sadness is in the middle and the then the book moves quickly on. The end of the book is smiling through tears, "my favorite emotion" like Dolly says in Steel Magnolias. :)
Clair, I would say it is less funny. It is fiction and the dog's thoughts not the rest of the family's so it doesn't compare. I thought it favored The Dogs of Babel more. My best friend is handing it to everyone she knows, and I'm the opposite. I handed Marley and Me out to everyone! ;D
sounds good! and they really have established that dogs can detect cancer.
i remember some researchers doing a test to see if dogs could detect bladder cancer by smelling the urine of the cancer sufferers and they could.
but they couldn't figure out why all the dogs had shown a positive response for one of the test subjects who didn't have bladder cancer
turned out he had pancreatic cancer
p.s. just ordered it to read on the kindle app on my iphone!
Yea, Diane! That is totally amazing! I want to be dog tested! Hey, I can see the advertisement. Get Dog Tested and Paw Approved! :D
This sounds so good...but sad...I'm a little scared to read it! ;)
It is really good Tiffany. I didn't finish Marley and Me for the same reason.
I usually shy away from books told from the points of view of animals, but this one sounds like it's really well done. I've heard nothing but great things about it. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle has a couple chapters narrated by the family dog. I had a hard time with first one, but by the later chapters, I was a believer.
Lisa, the dog is a true narrator and isn't omnipresent which sometimes is the problem. He doesn't know all the details and has to over hear conversations and admits when he misses things.
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