Anyone who knows me knows I love books and I love dogs. So it is no surprise that I love reading books about dogs.
I will tell you why A Dog’s Purpose is one of my favorites, one of the most charming dog books ever written. The author, W. Bruce Cameron, has an uncanny ability to get inside a dog’s head. Combine that with his sense of humor and talent for storytelling, and you can understand why his books are so pupular popular. A Dog’s Purpose was on the New York Times bestseller list for a solid year, and deservedly so.
I am so beyond excited that A Dog’s Purpose is coming out as a movie next month. More about that in a minute. Let me tell you first about the book.
A Dog’s Purpose
Meet Bailey the dog, the narrator of his story, who yearns to figure out his purpose in life, and finds himself reincarnated over and over to continue that quest. With each life he is a little wiser, remembering life lessons from his past that continue to guide him. Author Cameron is so attuned to the gestalt of dogs, he has truly provided a window into their souls giving us readers a deeper understanding of what makes them tick. Why they love us unconditionally. Why they like sniffing nasty smells. Why they are clueless about cats.
Here, for example, Ethan the boy is teaching Bailey to rescue him in the water. Bailey recounts:
I looked down at the frothy water where the boy had gone in, then back at Grandpa.
“Go on!” Grandpa told me.
I suddenly understood and looked at him in disbelief. Did I have to do everything in this family? With one more bark I dove off the end of the dock, swimming down toward the bottom, where I could sense Ethan lying motionless. I gripped his collar in my jaws and headed for air.
“See! He saved me!” the boy called when we both surfaced.
“Good boy, Bailey!” Grandpa and the boy shouted together. Their praise pleased me so much I took off after the ducks, who quacked stupidly as they swam away. I got so close to being able to nip off a few tail feathers that a couple of them flapped their wings and briefly took flight, which meant I won, in my opinion.
With the perfect balance of joy and pathos woven through a page turning adventure, the book will touch your heart, make you laugh and cry, and sigh with contentment at the end.
Bailey’s story will leave you hungering for more, and thankfully Cameron heard our cry and wrote a sequel, A Dog’s Journey, another terrific story.
I loved this book too, in which Bailey is now Buddy, who rescues a little girl and realizes his purpose is to protect her forever. Over the course of her life, that is exactly what he does, but I won’t tell you any more because I don’t want this to be a spoiler.
I would have gone into a deep depression after finishing this book, bereft without a Cameron dog book to look forward to, but then I heard about the movie and I felt better.
A Dog’s Purpose, the movie
Starring Dennis Quaid, Britt Robertson and Josh Gad, A Dog’s Purpose opens in theaters January 27, 2017.
True to the novel, the narrator is Bailey, a bounding Golden Retriever who has already lived several lives and come back to fulfill the elusive purpose he knows is his destiny. Bailey’s running commentary on life as a dog is just what you would imagine a dog’s thought process to be. I guarantee you will fall in love with him.
One of the takeaways is that you can make a dog very happy just by telling him he is a good dog. So don’t forget to do that when you have the chance.
This movie trailer gives you a preview of the magic that is to come. I can’t wait.
Don’t wait until January to become a fan. Read one or both of the books first.
Thanks to the author, I am delighted to offer either A Dog’s Purpose or A Dog’s Journey to one of my readers. Please leave a comment below, and a winner will be randomly selected. USA addresses only, please.
