booksbecreads's review against another edition
3.0
This was a short, easy to read book that you could put down and pick up again quite easily. BUT it did not make me want to read his other books, that I have heard so many good things about.
stormslegacy's review against another edition
1.0
This book is written by an ignorant man. He buys MULTIPLE border collies, without any experience and ends up having his "heart dog" killed because he couldn't be arsed to take the time to properly train and manage him. If he worked with a behaviorist, I could respect his decision, but he didn't. He was treating a working animal like a pet, when the temperaments are completely different. He also throws one of the dogs with the sheep to teach itself--a recipe for disaster.
If this were about plants or equipment, then I would rate this much higher, but as a guardian to living creatures this man failed in his duty to educate himself or find a good support base to work from.
The reason i didn't give this two starts is that in addition to the above, his writing style is very self-involved and tends to wander around without ever touching on anythign resembling a point or purpose. If you like that kind of writing you may enjoy this. I did not.
If this were about plants or equipment, then I would rate this much higher, but as a guardian to living creatures this man failed in his duty to educate himself or find a good support base to work from.
The reason i didn't give this two starts is that in addition to the above, his writing style is very self-involved and tends to wander around without ever touching on anythign resembling a point or purpose. If you like that kind of writing you may enjoy this. I did not.
amylee218's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting look at life on the author's farm. I love animals, and have 1 big, yellow,, almost 14 year-old lab (we lost his sister in April), so I could relate to some of his stories about the responsibilities, joys, and sorrows of being a pet owner.
moreadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The dogs were awesome, and the pictures were great, but this guy is no James Herriott. His writing was repetitive and just not all that interesting in a lot of places. I want to read about your kick-ass dogs, not the Grunt-and-Grumble-whatever.
lauriereadslohf's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book so very much and am going to search out his others. The author chronicles his life as a newish care-taker of various animals including dogs, donkeys, sheep and even two cows. His rural neighbors are friendly but I guess think he's a little odd what with his penchant for taking in useless animals such as donkeys but it seems he's winning at least a few of them over as one asks him to "buy" a cow that he just can't bring to slaughter. The book is filled with love and pain and life lessons learned the hard way. It makes me want to sell everything and start a little sanctuary of my own. If only I had the cash :)
What I found odd about the book was the fact that his wife seems to live a separate life in another home and is very rarely spoken about until the very end of the book. There is one point where he considers re-homing the wife's favorite dog and then he just does it without any mention of the wife's thoughts on the matter. I think I need to read the earlier books to figure out how this works for them because it seemed quite a strange situation.
What I found odd about the book was the fact that his wife seems to live a separate life in another home and is very rarely spoken about until the very end of the book. There is one point where he considers re-homing the wife's favorite dog and then he just does it without any mention of the wife's thoughts on the matter. I think I need to read the earlier books to figure out how this works for them because it seemed quite a strange situation.
jlgrey's review against another edition
4.0
I LOVE Jon Katz. I've read all his books, and I consistently read his Slate column and his blogs on his website. Because of this I was a little disappointed in his book (though I'm still going to his book reading today!) because it expands on stories that I'd already read. For those not so obsessive about his writing, it will be a pleasant and interesting read.
susanhert's review
Generally, I'm a sucker for stories about animals and their quirky ways, but this book is not so much about this as about the person who keeps these animals for little reason other than to write about them, it would seem. And, while I like a good memoir, I don't really find this author's commentary on his rural life all that entertaining. It's a fairly mindless read, which is what I wanted when I got it from the library, but I'm going to give the rest of the book a pass.
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