The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, is narrated by a dog, Enzo. With just that much information, I’m surprised that it took me this long to read it. I love puppies, and I loved this book! I’ve been languishing over this review, though, because it’s hard to put my admiration into words. Here is my best shot.
Enzo is a dog who believes – from watching a documentary – that in his next life he will be a human man. While limited as a dog (he has no thumbs!), he’s trying to learn as many human attributes as he can by paying attention to the humans around him. Enzo was purchased as a puppy by Dennis Swift. Denny is a semi-pro race car driver whose life has took some tragic turns. As Enzo looks back over his life, he retells his and Denny’s story with great insight and compassion.
I really loved this book. The plot is fairly simple, but it’s from a whole new perspective – a dog’s perspective! Stein’s prose is fresh and poignant. (I found myself tearing up a couple of times.) The metaphor of life as a race is carried throughout with skill and just enough jargon to make the reader understand. The only quibble I have is that sometimes the dog-as-narrator thing was stretched a little too far. Enzo couldn’t be everywhere. He explains that he pieced things together afterwards, but it seemed a little thin. Still, I loved the book enough to overlook that one small flaw. Have I mentioned that it’s told by a dog? I think you’ll enjoy it. I sure did.
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein 
Other Reviews:
Both Eyes Book Blog
Fizzy Thoughts
Fyrefly’s Book Blog
So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook
The Novel World
Buy The Art of Racing in the Rain
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That sounds so good. It’s on my wish list.
This is waiting for me on my Kindle. Maybe I should move it up on my priority list!
The dog’s perspective was what got me hooked in the first place. So I was biased at the very beginning when the story unfolded. My dog looks almost the same as the one on the cover! Enzo is no doubt one of my favorite characters this year.
So this book must be something. I defintately have this on my list to read next… I am an animal lover myself and have heard many great things about it. Thanks for the review!!!!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this book as much as I did!
I added a link to your review on my review.
I loved this book. Enzo was such a lovable character. I just read that Garth is on Twitter now so I am interested to see what he has to say!
http://twitter.com/garthstein