... by Garth Stein.
Do you have a dog? Have you ever wondered what they are thinking about? Well, then this is the book for you. This book is narrated by Enzo, a dog. The first chapter is at the end of Enzo's life, where he's just hoping his owner, Denny, will do the right thing and take him to the vet for the last time.
I think this is the first time I've ever cried in the first chapter of a book. I actually thought about not reading it. It was way too much for me. I switched books to another book for a while, then decided to try another chapter of this one. Thank goodness, it went back to when Enzo was a puppy. That was much better to read, and way more fun!
The book is well written, and at times, I forgot I was reading about a dog. When I think of narration by a dog, I think of the clip on America's Funniest Home Videos where the dog is "pushing a rock, pushing a rock, pushing a rock......" This narration made Enzo a person who was in a dog's body, who couldn't communicate his needs in words because he had a floppy tongue. He couldn't get things ready for himself (i.e. food) because he didn't have thumbs. Other than that, he was intelligent, caring, emotional, and any other characteristic you'd attribute to a human.
The story follows Enzo's life with Denny, a wanna-be race car driver. Denny then meets Eve, and they marry, and then Zoe comes into their lives. The relationship shift between Enzo and Eve was really sweet to read about. Eve starts out as the person who is stealing his master's attention, and he doesn't want to like her. Then he realizes she's important to Denny, and he can whine and sook about it, or make the best of it.
By the end of the story, we all know what is coming. It doesn't make it any less sad to read. I cried many times throughout this book, but I laughed and smiled just as many.
I cried too! I loved this book... though I thought the reincarnation bit was a little hokey. Actually several bits were hokey, lol. But it was still a great book.
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