Tuesday, January 04, 2011

REVIEW: You Had Me at Woof

You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness
by Julie Klam
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (October 28, 2010)

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Let me start this review right off by stating that I adore this book. You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness by Julie Klam is described as "The hilarious and heartfelt chronicle of a woman learning the secrets of love, health, and happiness from some very surprising teachers: her dogs."  I don't think it's possible to find a book I can relate to more - well, unless perhaps Julie were also a knitter. It is one of those books that I simply can. not. put. down. 

Throughout the pages of You Had Me at Woof, Julie tells the tales of dogs who've touched her life, from her beloved first Boston Terrier Otto to Moses, a "failed foster" who's life ended far too soon.  As I turn the pages of the often hilarious, at times sad, but always sincere memoir, I find myself smiling, crying, and laughing out loud - sometimes uncontrollably.  When people stare, I just smile and nod... after all, I am the Crazy Dog Lady with a book called You Had Me at Woof in my hand...

Over the years as Julie continues to learn about relationships from the 4-legged friends in her life, she added a husband and daughter.  At some point, Julie clearly becomes a "dog person" and when she decides to get involved in rescue, I can't help but compare our stories and the similarities we share - but thankfully I've been doing it all with only 4-legged children at home and not a 2-legged toddler as she did.  From the 2am potty breaks to fostering an off-the-wall insane terrier to emergency vet visits to having that gut instinct not to adopt to someone... I've been there; done that; heard about that; couldn't imagine having to go through that.  Although I've never met Julie, I feel like we could be best friends ... and maybe I'd teach her how to knit at the dog park?

You Had Me At Woof tops my list as one of my all time favorite reads.  If you're a dog person at all, I bet it'll top yours too.  Grab a copy and see what all the drool is about!  In the meantime, you can watch the hilarious "You Had Me at Woof (The Book Trailer)" here:




About the Author: Julie Klam grew up in Bedford, NY.  After attending NYU and interning at "Late Night with David Letterman," she went on to write for such publications as Rolling Stone, O: The Oprah Magazine and Glamour, as well as for the VH1 show "Pop-Up Video," where she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Class Writing.  She married the show's producer, Paul Leo and now lives with Paul, their daughter and three dogs in Manhattan.  You can find Julie's blog linked from 
her website.

8 comments:

♥ Sallie said...

Sounds like a great read!

Hugs,

WonderWhyGal said...

Now I want to read this. I will tell you that I've learned a lot from my dogs, cats and my herd of Alpacas. Thanks for the review.

Bubblesknits said...

Like I said on Ravelry...I love the cover picture. lol It makes me smile just looking at it.

SissySees said...

Love the title. I'll have to read this eventually...

AllyB said...

Ok, I'm gonna go get this book now.

jen said...

Sounds like another great book!
and I love the title:)

gypsyknits said...

Nice review and sounds like a must-read. Thanks for everything you do to help rescues.

Anita said...

It sounds like a wonderful book, it's not overly sad is it? I hate books that make me cry too much. :)

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