Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan
Animal books don't usually work on me (strange, I know, because I am an animal person), but this one did. It is adorable and hilarious and had me laughing and going "Awww!" on the subway. The author also handles the emotional arc of the book deftly - just as I thought I was going to have to end the book by crying (which is standard for the genre) I ended it laughing instead. I also have to admire that the author ended up coming across as sympathetic, when he's not the kind of person I'd find particularly sympathetic IRL. (Not that there's anything wrong with him, he's just not someone I'd seek out as a friend or anything.) I'm not going to actively recommend to read it for the writing because it didn't take my breath away or anything, but the author did manage to win over an unsympathetic reader who doesn't usually appreciate the genre. So that should count for something. Plus, like, it's funny and cute and has a yellow tilty-head puppy on the front.
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2 comments:
Someone gave me this book as a gift. I've been afraid to read it because I'm not up for crying about animals for a long time to come. (I've filled my quota and then some.)
But you've made it sound nice - and uplifting. I'll rethink.
You will cry, the crying part is in there. But there's a good laughing part afterwards, so the book doesn't abandon you in the crying place.
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