In a blend of memoir, literary criticism, and reflections on dogs and death, Mark Doty recounts the making of his human-canine family. As his partner, Wally's, death becomes inevitable, Doty rescues Beau from an animal shelter, believing the golden retriever will ease his pain and become a companion for their aging black retriever, Arden. When Beau becomes ill, caretaking rescues Doty from depression, and Beau and Arden become his anchor to life. Doty's perceptions celebrate canine life forces and the connection that lets human and animals transcend tragedy and keep hope alive. Doty's reading has a singsong quality. At times, this complements the lyrical tone of this work, and other times it becomes too hypnotic. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
Dog Years
Dog Years
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Overview
Why do dogs speak so profoundly to our inner lives? When Mark Doty decides to adopt a dog as a companion for his dying partner, he finds himself bringing home Beau, a large golden retriever, malnourished and in need of loving care. Beau joins Arden, the black retriever, to complete their family. As Beau bounds back into life, the two dogs become Mark Doty's intimate companions, his solace, and eventually the very life force that keeps him from abandoning all hope during the darkest days. Their tenacity, loyalty, and love inspire him when all else fails.
Dog Years is a remarkable book: a moving and intimate memoir interwoven with profound reflections on our feelings for animals and the lessons they teach us about life, love, and loss. Mark Doty writes about the heart-wrenching vulnerability of dogs, the positive energy and joy they bring, and the gift they bear us of unconditional love. A book unlike any other, Mark Doty's surprising meditation is radiantly unsentimental yet profoundly affecting. Beautifully written, Dog Years is a classic in the making.
Editorial Reviews
Tender and amusing…Doty brilliantly captures the qualities that make dogs endearing.” — The New Yorker
“Life-affirming, lyrical, and profoundly affecting…Only Mark Doty could have written a dog book...that covers so much ground.” — Pam Houston, O magazine
“Potent and expressive...The weight of Doty’s adoration for his pets is expressed with...eloquence throughout.” — San Francisco Chronicle
“This is Doty at his best....Doty does in fact make the unsayable sayable, bringing the ungraspable within our reach.” — Los Angeles Times
“A tender reflection on love and loss, this is MARLEY & ME for the cerebral.” — People
“Doty pays loving tribute to two retrievers…DOG YEARS is a warm, thought-provoking discourse.” — Entertainment Weekly
“A wounding yet arresting memoir about living with his dogs…Doty’s gorgeous prose and piercing meditations...are simply sublime.” — Washington Post Magazine
“Lyrical and sensitive…Doty poetically expresses what many have felt but few can articulate.” — USA Today
“Doty is at his best…exploring the mirrorlike quality of a dog’s gaze or the inextricable duality of hope and despair..” — New York magazine
“A meditation on how we can live with hope…Dog Years wrestles with the Big Questions.” — Houston Chronicle
“I was charmed, moved, often fascinated…Doty manages to make inner lives just a little more knowable.” — Chicago Sun-Times
“No human has ever loved his animals as Mark Doty has…Doty possesses a particular brilliance...[A] stirring chronicle of love.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A great poet can break your heart, sometimes with a single line. Mark Doty proves it twice over….Utterly unforgettable.” — Palm Beach Post
“Frankly and beautifully told…DOG YEARS respects Beau’s and Arden’s singularity. Doty describes them lovingly, with poetic specificity.” — John Freeman, Newark Star Ledger
“By turns, comic, heartwarming, sentimental (in the very best way) and ultimately heartbreaking.” — Ken Munger, Sacramento News and Review
“Doty writes unsentimentally but affectingly about the solace and companionship dogs provide...the hope...they bring into a home.” — Out Magazine
“Rather amazing...A profound reflection on hope, and a song of praise for the dead.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“Poignant, intelligent, and quite simply superb.” — Library Journal (starred)
“DOG YEARS points out what is...magical about life with animals…A...twinkling landscape of the human heart.” — BookPage
“Doty delivers a soulful love story which illuminates...the big human mysteries…As intellectually evocative as it is emotionally resonant.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evocative, compassionate, a love story both intimate and grand, this is a beautiful book.” — Amy Hempel
“A dazzling, tactile grasp of the world... both arresting and touching.” — New York Times Book Review
A dazzling, tactile grasp of the world... both arresting and touching.
Evocative, compassionate, a love story both intimate and grand, this is a beautiful book.
DOG YEARS points out what is...magical about life with animals…A...twinkling landscape of the human heart.
Doty writes unsentimentally but affectingly about the solace and companionship dogs provide...the hope...they bring into a home.
By turns, comic, heartwarming, sentimental (in the very best way) and ultimately heartbreaking.
Frankly and beautifully told…DOG YEARS respects Beau’s and Arden’s singularity. Doty describes them lovingly, with poetic specificity.
A great poet can break your heart, sometimes with a single line. Mark Doty proves it twice over….Utterly unforgettable.
No human has ever loved his animals as Mark Doty has…Doty possesses a particular brilliance...[A] stirring chronicle of love.
I was charmed, moved, often fascinated…Doty manages to make inner lives just a little more knowable.
A meditation on how we can live with hope…Dog Years wrestles with the Big Questions.
Doty is at his best…exploring the mirrorlike quality of a dog’s gaze or the inextricable duality of hope and despair..
Lyrical and sensitive…Doty poetically expresses what many have felt but few can articulate.
A wounding yet arresting memoir about living with his dogs…Doty’s gorgeous prose and piercing meditations...are simply sublime.
Doty pays loving tribute to two retrievers…DOG YEARS is a warm, thought-provoking discourse.
A tender reflection on love and loss, this is MARLEY & ME for the cerebral.
This is Doty at his best....Doty does in fact make the unsayable sayable, bringing the ungraspable within our reach.
Potent and expressive...The weight of Doty’s adoration for his pets is expressed with...eloquence throughout.
Life-affirming, lyrical, and profoundly affecting…Only Mark Doty could have written a dog book...that covers so much ground.
Tender and amusing…Doty brilliantly captures the qualities that make dogs endearing.
In a blend of memoir, literary criticism, and reflections on dogs and death, Mark Doty recounts the making of his human-canine family. As his partner, Wally's, death becomes inevitable, Doty rescues Beau from an animal shelter, believing the golden retriever will ease his pain and become a companion for their aging black retriever, Arden. When Beau becomes ill, caretaking rescues Doty from depression, and Beau and Arden become his anchor to life. Doty's perceptions celebrate canine life forces and the connection that lets human and animals transcend tragedy and keep hope alive. Doty's reading has a singsong quality. At times, this complements the lyrical tone of this work, and other times it becomes too hypnotic. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170311880 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 03/13/2007 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 1,135,614 |
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