Rating: 
Summary: Amazingly touching!
Review: A Pack of Two describes a woman who has had struggles with alcohol, emotionally unavailable parents and ultimately their deaths of cancer. Having difficulties relating to people, she adopts a puppy and finds a way to finally create an intimate bond. Although I think she analyzes the dog's emotions a bit too much, I think the dog has helped her analyze her own weaknesses in which she can address them better now. I have a german shepard myself & understand fully how much joy a dog can bring into a person's life. I love my Cleo more than most people I know. I think she did a great job at writing this book & it is one of the best books I have ever read. I hope she does well at her quest for human intimacy.
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Summary: Exploring a relationship...
Review: A thoroughly enjoyable read... The book was a bit more introspective than I was expecting. The author spices the chapters with tidbits of her observations on others' relationships with their dogs. However, the focus is her relationship with her dog and how that affected her life post-sobriety and the death of her parents. While I purchased the book hoping for a more analytical approach, I still found it a beautiful testament to the ever-amazing power of that known as the "human-animal bond."
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Summary: One of a kind...
Review: After reading many books about "dogs", a friend suggested this book. Unlike many others, this book deals almost exclusively with the dog/person relationship, and discusses it in depth and detail not found in any other book I've read.Not everyone relates to their dog in the way Ms. Knapp does, and I certainly didn't agree with everything she wrote, but the book provides such a warm, intimate, unflinching look into her first relationship with a dog that I could not help getting teary at certain points. For some, dogs can and do provide a type of love found nowhere else. Even, as Ms. Knapp points out, if your life is balanced and full with a spouse, kids, career and other emotional connections. Perhaps one of the best things this book accomplishes is the confidence with which she says that loving a dog does not mean you are emotionally flawed. That alone should be merit enough. This book is so different from many other dog books. It is introspective, personal, affirming. One of the best books I've read in a long time, and one that could be read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent - kept my interest throughout
Review: Caroline Knapp puts into words so many of the feelings I have about my relationship with my dogs. I think you probably have to be a "dog" person to thoroughly enjoy this book. She keeps it very interesting by interjecting other peoples experiences with their dogs and analyzing what this might mean.
Rating:
Summary: A work of beauty and much surprise.
Review: Carolyn Knapp's beautifully written treatment of an interspecies relationship theorizes the many fragmentary observations that any dog-owner will make. Her love of her own dog Lucille is just as complex as it is deep. Knapp's meditions on the curious fact of living intimately with an animal give voice and explicit meaning to the legendary companionship of dogs. She writes of tenderness, humour, anxiety, disappointment experienced with her own beloved Lucille, and explains how people become more humane, approachable and even healthier in the company of a pet. Dogs as silent enigmas, virtual children, joksters, solitious friends and, sometimes, vexatious pests are discussed at length, providing a kind of theoretical basis for uniting all manner of experiences of this complex and rewarding bond.
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Summary: An honest, insightful look at the human/dog relationship.
Review: Do not read this book unless you are absolutely in love with your dog(s). Written with a keen sense of self, Knapp explores the evolving relationship between humans and dogs with open frankness and personal revelation. Tapping into her own experience, she provides insight into the rare bond we have with our canine counterparts. This is not, however, a gushing love-fest. Knapp describes various forms of emotional attachment, both good and not-so-good, that she and other dog people have with their dogs and the voids that these animals fill in our lives. Straightforward and honest, this is a book to be read and re-read.
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Summary: The bond of unconditional love is forever
Review: Heartwarming story of the loving bond between a woman and her beloved pet dog. The consistency and strength of the bond is a true testimony to the value of unconditional love, the fact it lasts forever, and the potential for inherent pain. Saw myself in every page, and the loving bond I have shared with my pets. Most recently: the sharing of life and love with my Boston Terrier, Boomerang,,,, then the shattering pain of loss and grief. And finally, a spiritual resolution, loving acceptance and ultimate joy. Arlene Millman, author of BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGYJ (The tale of a remarkable Boston Terrier).
Rating:
Summary: The bond of unconditional love is forever
Review: Heartwarming story of the loving bond between a woman and her beloved pet dog. The consistency and strength of the bond is a true testimony to the value of unconditional love, the fact it lasts forever, and the potential for inherent pain. Saw myself in every page, and the loving bond I have shared with my pets. Most recently: the sharing of life and love with my Boston Terrier, Boomerang,,,, then the shattering pain of loss and grief. And finally, a spiritual resolution, loving acceptance and ultimate joy. Arlene Millman, author of BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGYJ (The tale of a remarkable Boston Terrier).
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Summary: Sad news
Review: I am sorry to say that Caroline Knapp died a couple of weeks ago at the age of 42. She obviously touched many people's hearts and will be missed.
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Summary: Dog Lover says "must read but be careful"
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the book as soon as I started to bite into it. My husband and I own a 9 month old Jack Russell terrier named Memphis (had her since she was about 10 weeks old), and while we both take care of her, she and I share a much closer bond. So I related to Caroline's story and enjoyed the similarities and examples that she dove into being a dog lover now that she has her own, rather than just "growing up with them all through childhood". So I highly recommend this book..even if it does get too sappy and she is a bit redundant towards the end. She goes into detail like no other author about her relationship with her dog. Yes, she did have relationship problems, and a drinking problem, and most of us will not be able to relate to that, but that's what makes her story unique. It's really not a bad one. She gives plenty of training examples with the causes and effects based on her meetings with other dog owners. It's an interesting world when you own a dog, and I believe the author of this book relayed that well. I believe while the book does drag on certain topics, only a true dog lover would enjoy and appreciate the wisdom this author has to offer.
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