LitPicks - March '09

Animal Planet — This month's books honor those creatures that domesticate their owners.

A Lighter Touch | Wonderfully Written | Great Works




Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
Vicki Myron with Bret Witter, 2008
271 pp.

By Molly Lundquist
Maybe it's the face on the cover that's made so many fall in love with this book, but it could easily be the story, too. How is it not possible not to fall in love with a tiny, defenseless creature dropped down a library book drop in one of the coldest nights of the year?

Like most pets, Dewey makes a difference in the lives of his many owners— library staff and patrons alike—and eventually becoming so famous that he's featured in print and broadcast media around the world. People drive miles across the U.S. for a chance to meet him. Reading his story, it's easy to understand why.

The back story is about his savior, Vicki Myron, a single mom who puts herself through school to qualifiy for the top job in her library. Her devotion to her career drives a wedge in her relationship with her teenage daughter. Dewey helps to restore their relationship.

For book clubs, Dewey is the kind of book that will yield personal stories and memories about members' own pets. It's a good choice when you're looking for a break from the heavier reads.

Check out our Reading Group Guide for Dewey.

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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
David Wroblewski, 2008
566 pp.

By Molly Lundquist
Enough has been written and said about this book to...um, fill a book—and a book at least as long as this one is.

Sawtelle is an Oprah pick, and many were distressed that she chose a book ending on such a tragic note. But Edgar is a 20th-century retelling of Hamlet, and as you know Shakespeare's tragedies are...tragic.

Complaints have also been leveled about the overly detailed passages on the genetics of dog breeding. That's probably a fair criticism, but those sections needn't be overly burdensome. Just blow through them.

What I love about Sawtelle is the beauty of the prose, the depth of Wroblewski's characters and the sheer ingenuity of his adaptation. Trudy as Queen Gertrude and Claude as King Claudius are pretty obvious, but Wroblewski fills out their backgrounds and personalities and gives them a rich complexity lacking in Shakespeare. (Oops, I say that?)

At the heart of this story is the ability of young Edgar, who is mute, to communicate with his dogs, a brilliant plot device that highlights the deep and mysterious affinity between humans and canines. The ultimate question raised is the degree to which animals, including homo sapiens, can be truly domesticated, and the thickness of that layer of civilization that coats us all.

Sawtelle is a challenging and wonderful read. It might be intriguing to read Hamlet (oh sure) or chose one of the terrific film adaptations (Kenneth Branaugh's or Mel Gibson's). Compare the book to the original to see how Wroblewski developed his parallel.

Be sure to check out our Reading Guide for The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

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The Call of the Wild and White Fang
Jack London, 1903, 1906
304 pp.


By Molly Lundquist
If you love dogs, really love dogs, you'll find London's two novellas terrific reads. He tells both stories from the point of view of the dog (or wolfdog), and strangely enough it works...so well that it's hard to put the book(s) down.

London can be raw, evoking Tennyson's "nature, red in tooth and claw" and evolution's brutal survival of the fittest. Both Buck and White Fang undergo cruelty by humans and rival dogs, violence London doesn't shy away from describing. Yet both fight ferociously to gain mastery over their rivals. It's a ferocity and dominance London openly celebrates as a reflection of primitive strength and will.

In Call of the Wild, London considers the same issues as in Edgar Sawtelle— (above) the thin veneer of civilization that overlays an instinctive call of the wild. Buck hears the call, reverting back to his atavistic self and the life of his primal forbearers.

White Fang is the reverse: the wolfdog (he is 1/4 dog) willingly dons the mantle of civilization, putting aside his defensive savagery learned at the hands of humans. In fact, in this novella London considers the extent to which both animals and humans are formed by their experiences in the world. Cruelty begets cruelty; kindness, kindness.

These are interesting, compelling works and are particularly good when read in tandem.

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