Marley and Me by John Grogan (#2, Nonfiction)

I am an animal lover, pure and unwavering. People laugh when I tell them I wrote my personal statement for Law School about sheep, chickens, cats and dogs. But I am not ashamed, I am a product of my life alongside all creatures great and small. (Yes, I also read all the James Herriot books) Armed with this information you would probably guess that I enjoyed reading Marley and Me. And, yes, I did.

I had my hesitations as I started the book. The writing is technically good, John Grogan is a well known newspaper columnist, but I found myself overly critical of what I imagined my writing would look like if I were to write a book. But, when I continued reading my criticism disappeared as Grogan won me over with his ability to tell a story about Marley that had me laughing out loud and visualizing that dopey lopsided grin of a dog who has already forgotten the trouble they caused moments ago.

The book is hilarious. The book is sad. The book is poignant. It may not be a breakthrough novel that will fill English class book lists, but for Grogan it was more than just a book about a dog. At the end he says, "It was an amazing concept that I was only now, in the wake of his death, fully absorbing: Marley as a mentor. As teacher and role model. Was it possible for a dog--any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours--to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy." I agree.