What a fun book to read; stories by James Thurber about his dogs, and his simple whimsical drawings. The book is "The Dog Department: James Thurber on Hounds, Scotties and Talking Poodles", edited by Michael J. Rosen. I treated myself and bought a copy at thriftbooks online. A favorite story is The Thin Red Leash about how Thurber's Scottie puppy was insulted by some large and menacing workmen, while on a walk with Thurber. He thought that might be the day to die in defense of his pup, when an even larger man stepped in and loudly praised the pup. Thurber calls the man "the train lifter" because he looked strong enough to lift a locomotive from one track to another.
Another Thurber sketch from the book and this one needs no caption.
I found the above book when reading "Dogs We Love", also edited by Michael J. Rosen. Jane Smiley, Armistead Maupin, Edward Albee, Ann Beattie and more contributed stories about their dogs. This book was a Christmas gift to me from my younger son, and has excellent photos in it.
13 comments:
I definitely want to read the Thurber book. I have a couple of his on the shelf that belonged to Tom's father, and I want to sit down with them, sooner than later. Thank you for writing about it.
There's so many wonderful and classic books about dogs, isn't there! Happy reading!
Always enjoyed J. Thurber's books. So clever.
They both look like wonderful books. I DO love dogs. All kinds and sizes of dogs. I wish I could have a dozen plus some cats too! :-)
Blessings,
Betsy
Both sound like really interesting books, especially if you love dogs, which I do. :)
Thanks for the tip!
Yay for Thurber!
In high school, I kept a Thurber paperback with me. I think I still have it.
Terra, this was a great post. I am going to check out these books as my daughter's birthday is coming up and she absolutely loves any dog stories. Dogs are her priority as she works at the animal shelter..Happy Easter..xxoJudy
We are animal lovers, and over 60 years of marriage have had numerous dogs, cats, etc....
We do miss Molly as she was our last pet, and we had her for 15 years. The books look delightful.
You had me at dog! These look like truly wonderful books and I will definitely be looking for them on Thriftbooks! I never met a dog story or picture that I did not love. Thanks for the recommendations. Happy Easter, Terra! xoxo
Well I haven't heard of either of these! I'm going to look them up! I'm a total dog nut (as evidenced by one very spoiled black, Cocker Spaniel named Hudson haha!). Thanks for letting us know about these! Happy Easter! (I'm sure yours will be warmer than ours . . . they are calling for SNOW on Monday again . . . probably won't stick but just the mention of it makes me sad!)
Dear Terra, I tend to read books about cats. However, I have friends (two couples) who adore dogs, and I'm going to send them the names of these two books. Thanks so much for sharing your enthusiasm for them. Peace.
sounds really interesting book dear Terra ,thanks for sharing your read ,your son has gifted you a cute beautiful book indeed ,
blessings to you and loved ones
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