Some authors have only one book in them – but what a book! A
good, best-selling author writes magically, has a unique story to tell and knows
to go home when the party is over.
Some authors write more than one book but have only one good book in them. Julie Klam is one
such author. I simply adored You Had Me
at Woof so I eagerly picked up Love
at First Bark and found out she has written other books as well.
Unfortunately, Klam has only one good book in her – Woof. At least it saved me from the others.
Below you will find both books reviewed, Woof, first.
You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness, by Julie Klam (228 pp, 2010, $24.95, Riverhead Books
[Penguin])
Whoever
said that you can’t tell a book by its cover was right! I passed right by Woof many times in my local bookstore
and, frankly, just wasn’t interested after seeing the cover – wrong breed and a
little dog at that. I am not a BostonTerrier person (like the cover dog): I’m a
Golden Retriever and Lab person, a big dog person.
Fortunately
for me, my local library has Woof so
I could read it but now I am going to buy it so I can reread it – and keep it!
A
30-something woman working part-time in New York City living in a small
apartment, without a boyfriend, gets a dog and, by Chapter 2, is married with a
little girl on the way. She
eventually becomes involved with a Boston Terrier rescue organization as well
as the ensuing hilarious characters and situations that will have you laughing
out loud.
Woof is funny, heartfelt, well-written
and just about perfect – in other words, charming. And if you want a tear-jerker, Woof is that, too. From the senior dog the vet believes has
Cushing’s disease but turns out to be pregnant, to the author’s daughter Violet
naming the new puppies Wisteria and Fiorello, you will laugh until you cry.
But
you will also learn about the trials and tribulations of having a dog and that
being involved in dog rescue teaches us how dogs make our lives just a little
livelier and lovelier and more worth living.
Somehow,
Klam weaves just the right word-pictures to describe her family and their dogs’
antics and her new-found volunteer work rescuing Bostons.
Even
when one of her own dogs dies and she waxes eloquently about the human-animal
bond, her words fit brilliantly well together to explain what others can only
attempt.
Woof is another 24-hour book. You
will read it non-stop and wish there were a sequel!
-
- - - - -
Love at First Bark: How Saving a
Dog Can Sometimes Help You Save Yourself, by
Julie Klam (2011, Riverhead Books, 170pp, $22.95)
Since Love at First Bark was written by the
same woman who wrote You Had Me at Woof
— almost the funniest and most heart-warming book of 2011 — I had high
expectations for Love. My
expectations were dashed.
At her best,
Klam is hilarious when writing about mundane everyday things: she makes us feel
nice and warm and fuzzy inside with her magic prose. She makes doing the
laundry suspenseful.
And Klam has a
daughter you will love - Violet names her dogs after flowers!
Klam also has
the relaxing knack of opening a book or chapter with pages of lovely
word-pictures that have you guessing at what the chapter will actually turn out
to be about!
Love is a small book with three
chapters, each about a different dog “rescue” situation in New York City
(author Klam fosters Boston Terriers and has three “interesting” Bostons). I
read the shortest story first, which was the third one. I don’t remember what
it was about. The second, “My Darling Clementine,” was quite good, but the opening
vignette, “Morris, The Pit Bull – Couples Therapist!” quite literally took the
cake. It was that good — Klam at her best like she was in Woof.
An interesting
cover photo of a (probably) Chocolate/Yellow (depends on which cover you buy)
I have often
thought that everything has a cover photo of a Golden Retriever or a Lab
because those breeds are so photogenic and popular and, yes, it works. I buy
just about anything with one of those two breeds on the cover! I guess I’m just
the average American sucker of a dog-person for good advertising strategy.
However,
besides a great first chapter and a good second one, the immediate inside front
and back pages sport a colorful collage of dogs, including a Pit Bull, a Boston
Terrier, and, yes, the requisite Lab and Golden!
It seems
nowadays that almost all books cost the same, no matter how many pages or how
well written. This is a short book in more ways than one.
(This
latter review first appeared in GRREAT News, Jan-Feb 2012.)
