Book Reviews

Family dogs make keen observers and astute judges of human behavior, but they rarely narrate novels due to a big language barrier. But Seattle-based author Garth Stein shatters that barrier by telling his story, The Art of Racing in the Rain (2008, HarperCollins, 323 pages), from the viewpoint of Enzo, a pet pouch.

Loyal, logical and always concerned, Enzo, a mongrel, expresses the wisdom of old age. Frail and no longer fully mobile, he's ready for death, but not before taking a meaningful look back and sharing what he has learned in life. “We had a good run, and now it's over; what's wrong with that?”

This insightful fictional dog, also from Seattle, handles the storytelling well about his leading human, part-time race-car driver Denny Swift, struggling with an avalanche of problems. Enzo knows first that Denny's wife, Eve, will die from a brain tumor. Then Denny faces a costly legal battle for the custody of his daughter, Zoe, against her well-intentioned, but destructive, grandparents.

Enzo loves watching auto-races, usually on television. From videos, documentaries and listening to his master, he knows about famous champions and important races. Denny races at his best in rainy conditions, and Enzo tells how, much of which also applies in the race through life. “I know this much about racing in the rain. It is about balance. It is about anticipation and patience. I know all of the driving skills that are necessary for one to be successful in the rain. But racing in the rain is also about the mind! It is about owning one's own body.”

A mix of Labrador retriever and unknown breeds, Enzo has humble origins. “He (Denny) picked me out of a pile of puppies, a tangled, rolling mass of paws and ears and tails, behind a barn in a smelly field....”

The canine narrator expresses strong opinions. “All a bunch of junk. Everyone knows that shepherds and poodles aren't especially smart.”

Enzo rates his own intelligence and ways of thinking as akin to those of humans. “I tried to teach myself to read by studying Sesame Street, but it didn't work. I achieved a degree of literacy, and I still can tell the difference between ‘pull’ and ‘push’ on a door, but after I figured out the shapes of the letters, I couldn't grasp which sounds each letter made and why.”

Although neutered and discrete, Enzo still remarks on nearly everything he sees. “Full of fermented drinks that made them both act funny, they were hanging on each other like they had too many clothes between them, and they were pulling at each other, tugging, biting lips and jabbing fingers and yanking at hair, all elbows and toes and saliva.”

Despite the woes he witnesses, Enzo wants to reincarnate as a human. “Here's why I will be a good person. Because I listen. I cannot speak, so I listen very well. I never interrupt….”

Readers who love other dogs easily recognize the best traits of their own mutts. Of course, Stein and his family also live with a dog, a big golden one named Comet and much like Enzo.

Stein wrote previous books: How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets and Raven Stole the Moon. For a time, he lived in New York.

Like most seniors nearing a final dawn, Enzo has experienced plenty. Ultimately, he knows more about life and how to live it than many humans do. “Yes, one more lap. One more lap. Forever, one more lap. I live my life for one more lap. I give my life for one more lap! Please, God, please give me one more lap!”

The Art of Racing in the Rain earns a loud “woof” of approval. Enzo often barked twice, signaling for Denny to “go faster”. Readers may urge Stein to “write faster” and finish more novels.

Approval rating: 83 per cent.