Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Art of Racing in the Rain



This book is told from the perspective of a dog. A dog named Enzo. (good name). Oh, that dog was wonderful. I wanted to hug him!
I wasn't sure about the title when I first started to read this one. I assumed that Enzo was into racing other dogs playfully. Nooooo. In this story, Enzo's owner is a race car driver who is known for racing in the rain better than anyone else. Enzo's favorite thing to do is to sit down with his owner and watch racing tapes. Denny talks to Enzo about technique and racing, and Enzo takes it all in.
Enzo is a beautiful dog and what he brings to Denny is more than companionship. What he brings to Denny cannot be described or explained. And what Denny brings to Enzo is so much more as well.
This book has a lot of sadness. Denny goes through some unfornuate times, which were so sad, I almost stopped reading it. It started to make me almost upset. (as upset as a book can make someone). There was something about Denny. Something I understood. I could understand his reaction to things, they would have been my reaction to things. Down to the conversations he had with his daughter...and so when things started to go bad for him, it hurt me a little more. So it was tough to read at times, but it was a wonderful book. And when I get another dog, you bet he is going to watch some dvds with me.

My Custom Van



The title of this book is "My Custom Van: and 50 other Mind Blowing Essays that will Blow Your Mind all Over Your Face." Ahahahaha. How could you not laugh at that?
With essay titles like,

"An Open Letter to the Hair Stylist Who Somehow Convinced Me to Get a Perm When I Was in Sixth Grade."

"Announcing the Imminent Arrival of the Handlebar Mustache Certain People Said I'd Never Be Able to Grow"

and my all time favorite,

"Hey, David Sedaris-Why Don't You Just Go Ahead and Suck It?" You can only imagine the essay that follows, and it is laugh out loud funny and gross me out disgusting. Oh, I love Michael Ian Black. Always have, always will. :)