Good Reading

Just as I was amazed and delighted with the book ROOM, told from the point of view of a five year old, by the end of page three. I had fallen in love with THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, told from the point of view of a dog. 

It was highly recommended to me by several folks whose opinions I trust -- Pat in TN was one, I think -- but somehow I never got around to it. Then at Wildacres, Kathy, who was auditing my class. handed it to me. "Read this," she said.

It was one in the morning when I finished it and I really wanted to turn back to the beginning and reread it. But I waited -- I'm rereading it now --  over a week later.

Enzo is a charmingly dog-like dog, completely believable for someone like me who has spent her life anthropomorphizing dog behavior. His dog's eye view of his person, his person's wife and child and the situations that ensue is beautifully done.

This isn't a review -- you can find plenty of those on line -- this is just me telling you who are dog lovers, as Pat told me a few years ago, "You need to read this book."

Mention Larry McMurtry and most folks would think of LONESOME DOVE -- one of the best TV cowboys epics around.  Or TERMS OF ENDEARMENT or THE LAST PICTURE SHOW.  Those are, by the way, terrific novels as well as films. 

BUFFALO  GIRLS is the self-told story of Calamity Jane. She is near the end of her wild and most unconventional life, traveling with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.  This is a poignant but unsentimental look at the end of an era, written with McMurtry's fine blend of quirky but believable characters and historical detail.  There's a masterful twist at the end of this fine novel that I particularly enjoyed.