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| Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog | 
 enlarge | Author: Ted Kerasote
Publisher: Harcourt
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy Used: $1.83
You Save: $23.17 (93%)
New (53) Used (55) Collectible (6) from $1.83
Avg. Customer Rating:  168 reviews
Sales Rank: 11478
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 0151012709
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.7092
EAN: 9780151012701
ASIN: 0151012709
Publication Date: July 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: (Airport Place Books does not ship on Saturdays and Sundays. We are unable to ship to "The Republic of Korea".)
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| Customer Reviews:
Take this wonderful book and man's best friend to sit and read under a tree August 8, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The relationships we build with each other are sustained over time through both verbal and non-verbal communication. We build rich layers of relationship through our interactions with each other. It is part of the human condition to be, well, human.
The act of relationships doesn't stop with the human element. We build relationships with our natural and animal counterparts in some of the same ways we do with each other. Animals, however, hold a different fascination for us. By the very nature of our communication with them, we have to connect more intensely with their abilities to communicate.
Merle's Door gives great insight as to what it takes to make a best friend, a confidante, and an equal partner in life. Kerasote exposes the rich emotion of the ties that bind us to our beloved canines, with an intellectual twist. He explorers the nontraditional notion of "letting a dog be a dog"; that is to say, by rigidly applying dominance and authority over our four-legged pals, they cannot achieve their full potential as canines. The dog merely becomes an extension of our thoughts, desires and actions-and limits the personality development of the animal.
Kerasote presents Merle's memoir in a way that not only evokes emotion, but also educates us as to the history and development of the dog throughout time. He has spent decades adventuring through the wilderness, respectful of what nature offers and how we need to respect the offering as responsible humans. Many of the years Kerasote spent in the wild were with Merle; in fact, that is how fate brought these two soul mates together.
Merle's Door gives us what many books written about dogs have not: a three-dimensional perspective on the dog as an animal, a companion, and a peer above peers. It also gives us a glimpse into the mind and behavior of the canine, as seemingly told by Merle himself, Kerasote his ghostwriter. Merle can rest assured that no greater honor could be given to a canine than the story captured by Kerasote.
Note: Kerasote's Out There: In the Wild in a Wired Age, won the National Outdoor Book Award.
Armchair Interviews says: Dog lovers, take your best friend for a walk, scratch his ears, and then read this wonderful story.
Insight not found in other "dog" books August 7, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Ted Kerasote, in his moving novel, "Merle's Door", allows us a window into the mind and soul of his companion of 13 years, Merle. Merle enjoys the freedom that few dogs ever have, and in his stunning masterpiece, Kerasote manages to let us really "see" and feel the emotions that Merle is feeling. This book is special because Kerasote, due to the geographic location in which he makes his home, is able to provide Merle with the freedom and decision-making capabilities that are not part and parcel of the life of most American dogs who live in an urban setting.
Those of us who have opened our hearts and our homes to these precious family members, will relate to the deep love and compansionship that develops between Merle and Ted. Although our dogs may not have been privy to the many adventures that Ted and Merle shared, they are no less loved.
This book is a treasure, and everyone who loves dogs should own a copy. It's a book that I have no doubt that I will re-read in the future.
I still cry when I think about it August 7, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I never heard of Ted Kerasote before I picked up the book, Merle's Door. I suppose it's because Kerasote writes about the outdoors and I'm not an outsy-doorsy girl. But I love dogs and was immediately drawn in to this wonderful story about Kerasote, a rugged man's man and a stray dog that found Kerasote while on a camping trip one day in Utah. Kerasote's description of his ever-evolving relationship with his new dog was unlike anything I've ever read before. This story touched my soul. I predict that Merle's Door will be a best-seller in no time at all. It deserves to be.
A Must Read August 6, 2007
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Wow! What a wonderful book. It made me want to run out and find my own Merle.
Believe the reviews! You won't forget Merle August 4, 2007
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Yeah, we've all read Marley and Me. We sniffled as Marley passed away. But the problem with Marley and Me seemed to be that the author never really connected with the reader. That is completely not the case with Merle's author Ted Kerasote. Mr. Kerasote has written a book in which you care as much for him as you do for his dog Merle. There is so much to recommend in this book, that it's hard to know where to start. There's an amazing amount of research interspersed among the observations of Merle's behaviors. However, the research is not only easy to read, it's easy to understand! The outdoor adventure and "backwoods" living surely must appeal to some deep dark primordial subconscious. But, all in all, it's the true life relationship between a man and his dog which completely wins the reader over. You may find yourself reading the book in one or two settings, it's that engaging! While many have moaned about the anthropomorphizing and the hunting occasionally presented, I can't imagine the book without those pieces. I can't ever recall a book which provided me with the emotional impact the last two chapters of this one did. I still can't think about it without tearing up. However, as sad and gut-wrenching as it is, the book's conclusion is ultimately uplifting and provides a reason to hope and be thankful for the critters who enrich our lives as much as we enrich theirs.
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