{"id":4040,"date":"2013-02-20T19:38:26","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T19:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/pets\/the-art-of-racing-in-the-rain-long-beach-reads-one-book-selection\/"},"modified":"2013-02-20T19:38:26","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T19:38:26","slug":"the-art-of-racing-in-the-rain-long-beach-reads-one-book-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/the-art-of-racing-in-the-rain-long-beach-reads-one-book-selection","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Racing in the Rain: ‘Long Beach Reads One Book’ Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"theartofracing\"Every year since 2002, a committee formed by the Long Beach Public Library Foundation<\/a> chooses a book to be read by the entire city and features it during Long Beach Reads One Book (LBROB) Week. The book is selected by literary merit and for how well it can foster literacy and a sense of community. Several citywide events are planned based on the book\u2019s theme, and most of them are free of charge and open to the public. Several are encapsulated at the end of this article.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s selection has a twin theme: race car driving and dogs, and the latter, of course, makes a review of the book absolute Gravy Train for the Pet Post. The Art of Racing in the Rain <\/em>by Garth Stein (Harper 2008) is a New York Times <\/em>best-seller set in Seattle, where there\u2019s an awful lot of rain. The book is told in the voice of Enzo, a mixed-breed dog whose mother is a lab and whose father could be any breed or mixture thereof\u2014Enzo suspects his dad\u2019s an Airedale (don\u2019t judge this book by the cover, which shows most of the head of what appears to be a golden retriever).<\/p>\n

We come into the story on the last day of Enzo\u2019s good life. He\u2019s waiting for the object of his devotion and worship, Denny Swift, to come home. Denny\u2019s a race car driver, and Enzo sees him as the most perfect example of the most perfect type of being: a man.<\/p>\n

On this day, Enzo only hopes to leave the planet soon so that Denny won\u2019t have to worry about taking care of canine geriatric needs, which are familiar to anyone who\u2019s loved and cared for an old dog. It\u2019s okay to let me go, Enzo thinks as he considers his idol. Enzo only hopes to be reborn as a human, who will find his Denny again, shake his hand and wink at him knowingly while his master wonders where he\u2019s seen him before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I return to this world, I will be a man,\u201d he ruminates. \u201cI will walk among you. I will lick my lips with my small, dexterous tongue. I will shake hands with other men, grasping firmly with my opposable thumbs\u2026.And when I see a man or a woman or a child in trouble, I will extend my hand. Both metaphorically and physically\u2026.I will be a good citizen, a good partner in the endeavor of life that we all share.<\/p>\n

Of course, anyone who has known a dog will see the irony: one of the finest, most loyal species in the world attributing all this wonderfulness to human beings, but it\u2019s all just part of a dog being who he (or she) is. And yes, it\u2019s a dog story, so you\u2019ll need to drag out the box of Kleenex you used for Where the Red Fern Grows <\/em>or Marley and Me, <\/em>but there\u2019s way more to it than tear jerking. It\u2019s a humorous and slightly edgy tale (Enzo describes in detail a few activities that, dogs being dogs, you may not want to read over breakfast); it\u2019s a philosophical book (\u201cBeware the whimsy of fate. She is a mean bitch of a lab.\u201d); and most of all, it\u2019s a love story\u2014one about the affection and devotion between and among humans.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also an experiment in pulling away the veil between human perception and canine perception without any use of anthropomorphosis. Enzo, you see, is educated. Like a number of us, he\u2019s learned everything he hasn\u2019t learned on the street from the TV and videos, which, by his own admission, he watches too much of. Humans reincarnating as dogs he found out about from a documentary about dogs in Mongolia\u2014unlike a number of us, he chooses his programs wisely (with a little help from the opposable-thumb people)\u2014the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and PBS. He loves the Weather Channel, which underscores the theme of rain, and of course, he\u2019s transfixed by racing shows, which bring him closer to his Denny. Had he the coveted thumbs, he probably would have spent part of his TV time texting him.<\/p>\n

And love\u2014Enzo\u2019s true and foremost love is his Denny, but he came to accept and eventually adore the woman who became Denny\u2019s wife, and he was the \u201cbig brother\u201d of Denny and Eve\u2019s baby, Zoe, immediately after she was born.<\/p>\n

Enzo tells his story in great detail, with charming na\u00efvet\u00e9: his beloved human\u2019s burgeoning career as a race car driver, a nemesis in the form of a stuffed zebra that Enzo perceives as evil, the bond between him and little Zoe, and a couple of amusing acts of revenge, one upon a group of crows and another on Denny\u2019s snotty in-laws. The dog\u2019s no sappy angel, but he does whatever a thumbless, mute creature with a huge heart and an intellect to match does as his beloved human struggles through the depths of a tragedy and the ugly events that follow it.<\/p>\n

What is the art of racing in the rain? I\u2019m not entirely certain, but it seems to do with balance, anticipation, and patience\u2014being ready for the unpredictable, or as Denny explained it to Eve, \u201cpossessing\u201d the car at a level at which you can predict what it\u2019s going to do in a certain situation\u2014drenching rain, for instance.<\/p>\n

Enzo does pass on toward the end of his story\u2014yes, toward<\/em>; you\u2019ll have to read the book\u2014but he knows that he won\u2019t die until he accomplishes what he was meant to accomplish. The same could be said for any four- , three- , two- and no-legged main character in anyone\u2019s life. Even if it\u2019s only bringing love or teaching patience, that\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n

There is, no doubt, a long wait at the library, but \u201cThe Art of Racing in the Rain\u201d is available at Apostrophe Books on Second Street<\/a> <\/em>or Barnes and Noble<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Enzo has his own blog<\/a>. Guess he did get reborn as a superior being.<\/em><\/p>\n

 \"john<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Photo credit: John McAllister, Canada<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Sometimes, however, it\u2019s important to hold one\u2019s position and not allow a pass\u2026The one who drives smart will always win in the end.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

~ Denny Swift, \u201cThe Art of Racing in the Rain\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

More About Long Beach Reads One Book<\/h3>\n

We\u2019re excited about the Bark Twice event activities planned for March 17 at Good Neighbor Park, 2800 Studebaker Ave., from noon to 4:p.m! Activities will feature a marathon reading of The Art of Racing in the Rain <\/em>by a number of Long Beach luminaries; a geocache activity; a juried \u201cI Look Like My Dog\u201d contest, evaluating such qualities as apparent personality, coloring, facial expression and features, and ears\u2014dress optional; a silent auction; a Blessing of the Animals; and a seminar by therapist Dr. Bill Benson regarding canine therapy and why our dogs look like us (!). The Long Beach Public Library and Friends of the Library will be there to sell gently previously appreciated books, there will be a cozy corner in which kids can read to their dogs, and Animal Care Services will show off a couple of their candidates for forever homes. There will be pet agility demonstrations, lots of booths, and food trucks. Dr. Greg Perrault, DVM, will be on hand in case of emergency. More features will be added as planning continues.<\/p>\n

Several of the LBROB events and activities were posted in a previous article<\/a>; they are encapsulated as follows:<\/p>\n