Eyes Wide Open

So, I really didn’t know what to expect when I read this book. Several people had recommended it. There was a dog on the cover. What could go wrong? I was so naive. I laughed, which was good. But then I ugly cried- more than once. I swore several times, too. In short, I felt all the feels and then some. The Art of Racing in the Rain is not a book about a dog. It’s a book about life and love and how to be a better friend, parent, lover, and person in general. And Enzo the dog will teach you.

Are You Crying Again?

If you are a dog lover, this book will absolutely get you all up in your feels. My yellow lab, Leya, passed away in July of 2016. She was 12 and had a good life being loved on by not just me and my husband, but our three kids. When I read The Art of Racing in the Rain two years later, I was not prepared for the flood of emotions it would bring up, or how much it would make me miss her.

Oh, yeah. And Race Cars.

I might have forgotten to mention that this book is also about race car driving. Even though Denny is the race car driver, Enzo, is the true lover of racing. It is their relationship, and Enzo’s narration, that carries us through the ups and downs, the hits and misses, of a very relatable life- even if you don’t like race cars at all.

After Denny’s daughter, Zoe, was born, his wife Eve asks Enzo, “Will you promise to always protect her?”

She wasn’t asking me. She was asking Denny, and I was merely Denny’s surrogate. Still, I felt the obligation. I understood that, as a dog, I could never be as interactive with humanity as I truly desired. Yet, I realized at that moment, I could be something else. I could provide something of need to the people around me. I could comfort Eve when Denny was away. I could protect Eve’s baby. And while I would always crave more, in a sense, I had found a place to begin.

Enzo

I know that some people feel that having a dog narrate the book is simply not believable. I submit that Enzo’s narration is exactly what makes this book so amazing.

It’s frustrating for me to be unable to speak. To feel that I have so much to say, so many ways I can help, but I’m locked in a sound-proof box, a game show isolation booth from which I can see out and I can hear what’s going on, but they can never turn on my microphone and they can never let me out. It might drive a person mad. It certainly has driven many dogs mad.

Enzo

If you are a dog lover/owner, you feel the truth of that paragraph. Dogs know. They try to tell you. Dogs go crazy when you don’t understand what they are trying to tell you. It’s as simple as that.

Read, but Be Ready for the Feels

I definitely recommend this book. The writing in the book is so easy to read and the characters (well, most of them) are so easy to love. At only 321 pages, this book should have been a piece of cake to read. Except all the feels kept getting in the way. I had to stop to laugh. Then I had to stop to catch my breath. Then I stopped to ugly cry (more than once, if you’ll recall). And then it was over and I felt all the feels at once. Maybe I would have waited longer had I known more about the story, but probably not knowing how much my friend loved and recommended it.

And now they are making a movie out of this. Talk about a kick in the gut.

But I can hardly wait. I may or may not have already bought my ticket. I’ll never tell.