Friday, January 28, 2011

the art of racing in the rain


Sara Gruen, author of one of my favorite books, wrote the following about Garth Steins' best-seller:
The Art of Racing in the Rain has everything: love, tragedy, redemption, danger, and best of all, the canine narrator Enzo. This old soul of a dog has much to teach to us about being human. I loved this book.
One Thursday morning, my boyfriend B picked me up from the airport following an unpleasant evening's worth of travel.  I was jet-lagged and grumpy.  He took me home, put me to bed, and mandated the remainder of my day would be spent catching up on sleep, and only after, reading The Art of Racing in the Rain.  He had placed the book on my pillow, along with a sweet card and a surprise subscription to one of my favorite magazines.  He takes great care of me.

I read several chapters that day but turned through the bulk of it on a beach in the Dominican Republic.  B warned I would cry.  He was wrong though, I didn't just cry.  I sobbed for the last fifty pages, my sunscreened face streaked with salted love for Enzo and for our own yellow lab, Myles.

Post-novel, I have grown increasingly aware of the ways B and I can show Mylie love even when we're not home.  Id est, leaving her in the melodic care of George Winston and Frank Sinatra, or turning on the Racing Channel, Enzo-style.

1 comment:

Allie said...

Your boyfriend sounds like the sweetest guy alive.