Haggisboy
13-06-2006, 10:51 AM
I’m not what you would call an avid reader. I guess because I spend my working days reading, editing and rewriting the work of others I’ve come to view it as something to be avoided during leisure time. However one day, while surfing the web, I clicked onto a page carrying an advert for a book whose cover featured a large, dopy Lab. There staring out at me was the mirror image of my once dear companion, Rufus, under the title “Marley & Me” by John Grogan. I was hooked.
From the moment I picked a copy off the bookstore shelf and began reading the opening pages, I knew there was no turning back. A masterful storyteller, Grogan, who works as a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, tells of the day, long before they opted to have children, when he and his wife decided they would first try their hand at raising a pet – Marley, billed as “the world’s worst dog” – a barrel-chested yellow Labrador Retriever with a mischievous streak a mile long.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4753/marleywet7hc.jpg The parallels were uncanny. Countless times the hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I read passages that dovetailed perfectly with the antics of my cherished former pet. I found myself fawning like a parent over a newborn as I read of Marley’s first formative puppy years in the Grogan household. Later, as he matured, I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud at tales of his stupid antics to which any dog owner and lover can relate, and others which were unique to Marley. After all, how many dogs do you know that have acted in movies? Ultimately, it was with great trepidation that I forged on reading the final chapters of the book, which chronicled Marley’s twilight years. In life all things have an end, and thanks to Grogan’s masterful story telling, this was one that I didn’t want to see conclude, even though it had to. Reading the final chapters from my place of work, it took a yeoman effort to refrain from blubbering like a baby. Instead, I sat there stoically as my eyes misted with tears, feeling as if I’d just lost my favorite pet all over again.
Through Marley & Me John Grogan reminds us of what it is to be human, and to love and be loved unconditionally, without judgment or prejudice, in the true spirit of friendship. It’s a wonderful story that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you wanting more. It may even make you do the unthinkable and adopt one of the big lugs.
Marley & Me spent 13 weeks atop the N.Y. Times non-fiction bestseller list, and Fox Studios recently optioned the movie rights to the book.
Marley & Me - Official Website (http://www.marleyandme.com/index.html)
From the moment I picked a copy off the bookstore shelf and began reading the opening pages, I knew there was no turning back. A masterful storyteller, Grogan, who works as a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, tells of the day, long before they opted to have children, when he and his wife decided they would first try their hand at raising a pet – Marley, billed as “the world’s worst dog” – a barrel-chested yellow Labrador Retriever with a mischievous streak a mile long.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4753/marleywet7hc.jpg The parallels were uncanny. Countless times the hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I read passages that dovetailed perfectly with the antics of my cherished former pet. I found myself fawning like a parent over a newborn as I read of Marley’s first formative puppy years in the Grogan household. Later, as he matured, I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud at tales of his stupid antics to which any dog owner and lover can relate, and others which were unique to Marley. After all, how many dogs do you know that have acted in movies? Ultimately, it was with great trepidation that I forged on reading the final chapters of the book, which chronicled Marley’s twilight years. In life all things have an end, and thanks to Grogan’s masterful story telling, this was one that I didn’t want to see conclude, even though it had to. Reading the final chapters from my place of work, it took a yeoman effort to refrain from blubbering like a baby. Instead, I sat there stoically as my eyes misted with tears, feeling as if I’d just lost my favorite pet all over again.
Through Marley & Me John Grogan reminds us of what it is to be human, and to love and be loved unconditionally, without judgment or prejudice, in the true spirit of friendship. It’s a wonderful story that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you wanting more. It may even make you do the unthinkable and adopt one of the big lugs.
Marley & Me spent 13 weeks atop the N.Y. Times non-fiction bestseller list, and Fox Studios recently optioned the movie rights to the book.
Marley & Me - Official Website (http://www.marleyandme.com/index.html)