For the past few years, I have loved reviewing memoirs for Library Journal. The experience has made me a more empathetic person, and for that I will always be grateful. I think we can all benefit from first-person nonfiction that shows what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes, for however brief a time. But, I miss reading novels. So this will be my last column but not the last time you see my name in print. The titles this month all feature a canine or two; this month we’re going to the dogs.
Barton, Julie. Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me from Myself. Think Piece. Nov. 2015. 234p. ISBN 9780986360787. pap. $14.95. MEMOIR
At 22 and living the postgrad life in New York City, Barton suffers a nervous breakdown on her kitchen floor. It is only after her mother drives nine hours each way to return her to her childhood home in Ohio that the author starts to deal with her severe depression. Working with a psychiatrist and a therapist, Barton finds that the one thing that helps her cope is adopting a golden retriever puppy named Bunker. VERDICT The author’s experience with depression as a young adult makes up the meat of this memoir, followed by a heartwarming story of the redemptive powers of her pet dog.
Kopp, Shannon. Pound for Pound: A Story of One Woman’s Recovery and the Shelter Dogs Who Loved Her Back to Life. Morrow. Oct. 2015. 288p. ISBN 9780062370228. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062370242. MEMOIR
Kopp struggled with bulimia for over seven years. During this time, she completed treatment programs, attended recovery meetings, and tried to will herself back to health—always relapsing into old habits. It wasn’t until she started working at the San Diego Humane Society that she learned to forgive herself and trust the trajectory of her recovery by observing the resilience of shelter dogs. When her eating disorder threatens her most important relationships, her desire to rescue dogs who would otherwise be euthanized ultimately gives her purpose and saves her life. VERDICT Readers who have experienced the healing power of animals or have simply struggled with addictive behavior will find comfort in this book.
Marshall, Dan. Home Is Burning. Flatiron. Oct. 2015. 320p. ISBN 9781250068828. $27.95; ebk. ISBN 9781250068859. MEMOIR
Dan Marshall is vacationing in Palm Desert with his girlfriend when he finds out his dad has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. So, he leaves his promising career in Los Angeles and returns home to Utah to help his three siblings take care of their father and cancer-stricken mother. His coping methods involve a heavy dose of alcohol, drugs, and unrelenting curse words. This grief memoir is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking. It proves that sometimes life can be so unforgiving that there is no choice left but to laugh. VERDICT Marshall’s brutally honest account of the worst year of his life will have readers marveling at how a memoir about two sick parents can still be so laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Stephens, Joshua. The Dog Walker: An Anarchist’s Encounters with the Good, the Bad, and the Canine. Melville House. 2015. 256p. ISBN 9781612194516. $24.95; ebk. ISBN 9781612194523. MEMOIR
Stephens spent eight weeks in Seattle trying to get a job to support his activist extracurriculars. After a spare room promised to him in a punk house falls through, he returns to his ex-girlfriend in Washington, DC, and answers a classified ad for dog walkers. It’s hard to make a living while crushing capitalism, but walking dogs seems like a way to do it without compromising his anarchist ideals. Regrettably, he fails to realize that he will be walking the pups of the same Capitol Hill politicians whom he rallies against. VERDICT This clever, politically conscious book is an homage to the thriving anarchist scene in our nation’s capital, and the dogs that live there.
