Living With and Loving a Knuckle-Headed DogDecember 29, 2008 John Grogan had no idea what he was in for when he and his wife Jenny adopted a ball of energy named Marley. He was destructive, impossible to train and delightful. Loving, gently protective and always forgivable, Marley was an integral member of the Grogan household for almost 14 years.
Anyone who has loved a companion animal will find this book to be laugh-out-loud funny and, ultimately, very moving. For all Grogan's protests that Marley is "just" a dog and that he (Grogan) doesn't know why he's so attached to this loopy pooch, WE get it.
I laughed heartily at the descriptions of Marley eating everything from paychecks to gold necklaces to his own obedience school graduation certificate, and read with trepidation the passages relating to his inevitable decline. Having shared those final years with several furry companions, I can declare from personal experience that Grogan gets these sections of the story heartbreakingly right. I finished the book in a few hours; it took a few more to stop crying.
Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst DogNovember 21, 2008 I must say taking care of impulsive dogs like Marley demands patience and hard work. So I can appreciate the Grogan's dedicated care of this hyperactive dog, Marley, who had the typical traits of ADHD. Of course, dealing with ADHD people is so hard. When it comes to dogs with ADHD, that's even more difficult. He wasn't able to do as the owner told him to, made a lot of mischief, and so on - nothing was so annoying as these for most of dog owners. I might have flown off the handle if I had found his frequent misbehaviors. - "Next time you do this, you are going to the slaughterhouse! Get it?" I just wonder whether it meant animal abuse...
However, I felt Marley was John's vivid reminder when I found he received lots of e-mails after Marley's death. I guess that was mainly because most of those who e-mailed him said encouragingly that they had the same or worse experience with their misbehaved dogs. Perhaps John Grogan saw through Marley's pros as well as cons of the dog's rambunctiousness.
Anyway, without unconditional love with Marley, the hyperactive and rambunctious dog, John Grogan would never have written Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, I'd say.
BUY THE BOOK NOT THE CDFebruary 29, 2008 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Don't get me wrong - buy the book and read it for yourself. The one mistake that John Grogan has made with this wonderfully uplifting story about Marley is to read the book himself. He has a voice best suited to newspapers and should leave it to a professional actor.
Great bookNovember 5, 2007 I laughed and I cried when I read this book. Every dog owner will be able to relate to the episodes in the book. I just couldn't put the book down , it only took me 2 days to read. John Grogan certainly has a way with words. I have ordered the children's picture book and my husband and I are even thinking of getting a 'Marley'. Without a doubt the best book that I've ever read.
only okayOctober 19, 2007 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I found this book only mildly entertaining and rather lacking in substance. I found the first few pages amusing but after that soon got the feeling that it was over padded (eg with long descriptions of what a labrador looks like, the history of the breed and differences between American and British Labradors). My guess is that it probably started out in life as a newspaper article (the author being a jouranalist) and would have been very witty. As a book you soon tire of the same stories/behaviours being trotted out in different forms. The author also uses uninteresting tales of his lovely but ordinary family and family life to fill pages. I must admit that the dog sounds like a challenging dog and Mr Grogan and family were obviously very kind and patient. My advice is if you want to read it borrow it from the library!
