Canter Bridge

Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

For about 150 pages, author John Grogan tells rambling dog stories about his Labrador named Marley, leaving his reader to wonder what all the fuss is about with this best-selling book.

Then the sad history of Marley’s demise begins and everything is different. You know this ‘worst dog in the world’ is going to die. If your own beloved pet has passed on, you know how terrible the reading of it is going to be. But you can’t turn away and so you turn page after page with the distinct sensation of tears welling up in your now completely hooked eyeballs.

Why do we let these short-lived four-footers into our lives? Does the joy they bring into our homes somehow offset the unrequited loss of their departure?

By the time the grieving Grogan is able to whisper in his dog’s ear—some of the last words he will hear—’Marley, you are a great dog’, he has won our loyalty, admiration, and appreciation, not least for writing down in the name of beloved Marley what we have experienced with our own dearly loved canines.

Tucker and Rosie, I love you even more this morning.

The readerly fuss was about something real. Contrary to popular belief, a million book-buyers can be wrong.

But they got it right this time.