When I am in a bookstore and I spot a book that captures the fancy of the pet-lover in me, I break into a smile. Why? I guess it is because the moment I see the book, I picture my doggies Gorby, Tasha and Boris in my mind. Woman’s Best Friend, edited by Megan McMorris and available at Powerbooks, is one such book.
"They may be known as man’s best friend, but as the writers in this funny and dramatic collection know, there’s no gender divide when it comes to canine companions," writes McMorris.
Interesting, entertaining and heart-warming are some of the words that come to mind in describing the book. The doggie tales are written by women writers and thus make the take they have on their canine companions different. The book has 26 stories about how different women treat their canine buddies. Each story presents the unique and often quirky relationships humans and their doggies share.
Susan Cheever has written five novels and six nonfiction books. Cheever tells about how she believed that people who had big dogs were "smart, classy and generous." While small-dog people were those who live in small places like apartments or condos, and had "screechy voices." And about the cat people, well she says, "they were not even discussed."
It is interesting to read how Cheever is converted into a small dog-lover (although she grew up with big dogs) when her kids take her to a pet store and make her get a Dachshund."
"His name is Cutie,’ my son said with a huge grin," writes Cheever – and that’s how she came to love their little black doggie, Cutie.
"His great talent is knowing how to love. I hope I have learned something about that too," writes Cheever.
Megan McMorris, in her piece "Once a Dog Mom, Always a Dog Mom," admits that she used to be a cat-lover. It was the independence of the cat that was the foundation of her love for cats. Also, she recalls how she had many close and harrowing experiences with dogs when she was a child. But, as luck and doggy-love would have it, she met Corvus and the cat-lover in her also became a dog-lover.
McMorris’ boyfriend was a policeman who sort of adopted the police dog. "Our first night as roommates went a little something like this: I was trying to sleep, while she snacked on a bone. Loudly, her dad was obliviously snoring next to me and was of no help, so I decided to take the bone away, placing it above my head on the bookshelf," writes McMorris.
But the turning point for McMorris came when she was writing a hiking book and needed to put in some hiking miles. And that is when the long walks with Corvus began. She not only won a walking companion, she also found a new best friend.
It is stories like these that fill Woman’s Best Friend and if you have lived with dogs all your life or are planning to get one, you will love the way each dog touches the lives it enters. Each in a different way.
And, whether you have had dogs, or other pets for that matter, reading the book lets pet lovers like me know that all pet lovers, no matter where they are, will do the strangest things for the love of their best canine friends.