Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure, by David Rosenfelt (St. Martin's Press, 278 pages, 2013, $25.95)
Cookies be Damned, Full Read Ahead!
Oh, my, how I didn't really want to stoop to Dogtripping but, oh, my, how glad i am that I did! It was a quick read. I call these books, "24-hour books" - books I just can't put down.
The Backstory
David Rosenfelt has led an enviable life: motion picture executive turned author (his wife, a retired fast-food chain executive turned dog rescuer and vegetarian).
Rosenfelt then wrote a golden retriever into one of his mysteries (Play Dead in 2007) and became an overnight bestseller sensation. Having read all these Andy Carpenter books so far (2011), I was a bit disappointed though the covers feature golden retrievers who play only a very minor role in each crime story, which I found misleading to be the least since I live, work and breathe dogs - goldens in particular. Friends, however love the Andy Carpenter books and some of my friends have even met him! And they are great mysteries.
The Hook
So, with trepidation, I looked into Daytripping, and when I spied the subtitle (25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure), I was hooked.
Smiling Out Loud
Most of Daytripping thoroughly entertains the reader with the life of Rosenfelt and his rescue, the Tara Foundation (named after his first golden), as well as how he and his wife came to relocate from California to Maine in a short period of time plus the trials and tribulations of planning the trip. And, yes, they lived with 25 rescued dogs at the time so they needed help - how I wish I had known! I would have jumped on the chance to help on this trip.
Photographic Tributes
Many memoirs nowadays include photographs and Dogtripping is no exception. I eventually turned to those pages and saw probably a photo and sentence about each of their 25 dogs - and wondered why. Reading the book gave me the explanation: each dog has its own story and its own well-deserved chapter.
Alternating Chapters
Interspersed with these dogstory chapter are the chapters about how to plan (and how not to plan) a cross-country expedition with dogs, vehicles and drivers garnered from the internet (mostly his mysstery fans). One of the volunteer drivers did most of the planning which suited Rosenfelt just fine (planning is not his forte, to say the least), to the point of making a list of everything that could possibly go wrong (risks), their consequences, probability of occurrence, and impact.
Wow! Just writing that is exhausting!
Rosenfelt Knows Dogs
With the wisdom of canines and their best friends comes an excellent chapter, Time To Let Go: ". . . try your best to think only of the dog and its quality of life. In most cases, if loving dog owner is struggling with the decision, then it's probably time to let the dog go. Because those are the kinds of owners that look for reasons to delay and deny. It's human nature.
Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong. All you can is to do your best.
The End
Rosenfelt is married to a woman who goes shopping for dogs at the shelters: hence, the number of canines, though the last words in the book lead you to believe Rosenfelt would like to downsize his canine family - maybe to fifteen!
Well Worth the Trip
To top it all off, this may jut be the funniest book you read all year. If it doesn't make you giggle out loud, it will at least make you smile out loud!
"Dogs Bridge Gaps Between People"
Don't we all know it! Get this book! Read it and keep it. Enjoy a dogtrip! Vicariously, of course.
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Read more about it: New Tricks
Other golden Rosenfelt titles:
Dog Tags was more dog-centric (2011)
Leader of the Pack was much less dog-centered (2012)
Play Dead (sorry, I just don't remember this one)(2007)
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