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| A Three Dog Life | 
 enlarge | Author: Abigail Thomas
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy New: $1.48
You Save: $11.52 (89%)
New (57) Used (65) from $1.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 7487
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 12.1 x 8 x 0.8
ISBN: 0156033232
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780156033237
ASIN: 0156033232
Publication Date: September 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: SHIPS TODAY!! BRAND NEW BOOK
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| Customer Reviews:
 Heartbreaking But Beautifully Written October 17, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although the book is billed as a memoir, it's more of a collection of linked essays about Thomas's husband, her three dogs, and life and love lost. It's depressing, but will resonate with readers who have elder care issues of their own.
The writing is simple yet Thomas accomplishes everything she needs to in these 208 pages--fans of minimalist writers such as Amy Hemple will enjoy this book. It may not be the "best memoir" ever written as Stephen King's blurb states, but it is a very, very good essay collection.
perfect condition just in time September 23, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
as a person who has worked w/ people with brain injuries, i felt this book needed to be written by the ones that stay. alot of people leave when the going gets rough and the strong stay and live to tell a tale of anguished pride, devoted anger and compicated understanding
Like making a new friend. September 23, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Memoirs seem to be a dime a dozen in our "all about me" world, but the truth is that writing a good one is a tricky business. Too often, after reading contemporary me-books, I just want to tell the writer to get over himself. But Thomas got it right with this wonderful book. Reading it was like getting to know a new friend. The writing is conversational, rather than linear -- you learn about her, her beloved but brain damaged husband, and her treasured dogs, in almost equal measure. By the end, the reader feels that she knows this very likable woman, and understands why she is who she is. And isn't that the point of a memoir?
I would especially recommend this book for anyone who is losing or has lost a spouse or partner. Thomas writes about the guilt that a surviving spouse feels when she finds herself growing, and even thriving, after her husband is incapacitated. She writes about the importance of friendship -- human and canine -- and the necessity of living up to your own values. Because in the end we wake up every day with ourselves.
Read this book!
Well-written, Powerful and Unforgettable! September 21, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This small book evokes so many different emotions for me. At first, I thought it would be too painful to read, too raw. However, it captured my heart and I wanted to read it. It is lyrical in its prose and I so very much enjoyed the phrases and words that this author chose to describe her life. It is utterly heartbreaking at times and yet so life-affirming, powerful and so true. I loved this book. I am so sorry the author had to experience this painful, horrifying, life-changing event but it has most certainly brought forth a beautiful book. I cannot recommend this book enough. It may be small but it is gloriously mighty in emotion and thought.
 A heart-rending trauma anyone can relate to September 19, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
What would you do if the one person you loved most in this world were in an accident? What if it were a terrible accident, one from which your beloved would never fully rise? Most of us have no idea of how to even begin thinking about such an experience.
In A Three Dog Life, Abigail Thomas lifts the veil on this heart-rending trauma. The book opens as her husband Rich, while out walking the dog, is hit by a car. He sustains a permanent brain injury that leaves him with little short-term memory and in need of twenty-four hour care.
Never sentimental, yet so transparent, Thomas allows the whisperings of her heart to tumble onto the pages of this captivating memoir. Remarkably, she permits her inmost thoughts to find their way into words without censorship. Raw, powerful emotions course through a memoir that is at once about a lost love and at the same time about a newfound love. Thomas' writing is so provocatively honest that it resonates deep within every reader who has survived love and loss.
Through her writing, Thomas lets the reader experience the loneliness and uncertainty of waking to a life that is totally unfamiliar. Her memoir deals with questions of control, memory, meaning and language. With regard to language, you are sure to be delighted by Thomas' vivid imagination and beautiful use of language. When, on the sixth page, Thomas writes, "I watch the dogs, one tiny dachshund so skinny he looks like a single stroke of calligraphy," the reader realizes that this will be an engaging book.
Who will be interested in this memoir? Certainly any of us grieving a loss, but also any of us longing for more meaningful living. It is a wisdom born of suffering that allows Thomas to teach us: "still, how great to be enjoying the ride, however uncertain the outcome...It's what we're all doing anyway, we just don't know it."
Armchair Interviews says: Emotional messages about loss.
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