Book Review: A Good Dog by Jon Katz

There are so many dog books around, and they are all funny and heartwarming and wise and ... and ... and ... it almost seems as if you've read one, you've read them all. In fact, I usually don't read them, because they become so ... formulaic (and manipulative) after a while. A few years ago, however, I was moved to check Katz's A Dog Year out from the library. It told the story of how Katz, a middle aged writer who was prone to owning Buddha-like labrador retrievers, acquired a troubled border collie named Devon -- whom he dubbed "the Hell dog." I read it, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

In this book Devon is back, although he has been renamed Orson (and Katz explains why this is so early on in the book.) The full title of the book is A Good Dog: The Story of Orson, Who Changed My Life. As I began reading it, I got the sense that Katz felt the first book had not done justice to Orson's story and what the dog meant to him, so he decided to tell it again. Yeah, it's a dog story and there are parts where he describes Orson's antics that are laugh-out-loud funny, as well as parts that moved me to tears. It's more than a dog story, though. It's also a rooster, sheep, and donkey story, and a people story. I found it very spiritual -- about faith, hope, and love, the ties that bind. Schlocky-sounding, I know. But there you have it.

The bottom line is, if you love dogs, you will most likely enjoy this book. If you like a good writer -- which Katz most definitely is -- you will probably enjoy this book. If you've ever dreamed about moving to the country you might enjoy this book.

Here is some of the highest praise I can bestow on a book: I plan to purchase A Good Dog. I don't buy too many books these days , and have to really love something to want to own it. Jon Katz also has a nice website, as I mentioned in the previous post, and he's becoming a damned good photographer too. Enjoy.

(Notice in the sidebar that I am now reading his most recent book Izzy and Lenore: Two Dogs, an Unexpected Journey, and Me. Stay tuned for the next review.)