The Art of Racing in the Rain: 'Long Beach Reads One Book' Selection • the Hi-lo

$theartofracing$ Every year since 2002, a committee formed by the Long Beach Public Library Foundation 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’s theme, and most of them are free of charge and open to the public. Several are encapsulated at the end of this article.

This year’s 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 by Garth Stein (Harper 2008) is a New York Times best-seller set in Seattle, where there’s 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—Enzo suspects his dad’s an Airedale (don’t judge this book by the cover, which shows most of the head of what appears to be a golden retriever).

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

On this day, Enzo only hopes to leave the planet soon so that Denny won’t have to worry about taking care of canine geriatric needs, which are familiar to anyone who’s loved and cared for an old dog. It’s 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’s seen him before.

“When I return to this world, I will be a man,” he ruminates. “I 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….And when I see a man or a woman or a child in trouble, I will extend my hand. Both metaphorically and physically….I will be a good citizen, a good partner in the endeavor of life that we all share.

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’s all just part of a dog being who he (or she) is. And yes, it’s a dog story, so you’ll need to drag out the box of Kleenex you used for Where the Red Fern Grows or Marley and Me, but there’s way more to it than tear jerking. It’s 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’s a philosophical book (“Beware the whimsy of fate. She is a mean bitch of a lab.”); and most of all, it’s a love story—one about the affection and devotion between and among humans.

It’s 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’s learned everything he hasn’t 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—unlike a number of us, he chooses his programs wisely (with a little help from the opposable-thumb people)—the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and PBS. He loves the Weather Channel, which underscores the theme of rain, and of course, he’s 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.

And love—Enzo’s true and foremost love is his Denny, but he came to accept and eventually adore the woman who became Denny’s wife, and he was the “big brother” of Denny and Eve’s baby, Zoe, immediately after she was born.

Enzo tells his story in great detail, with charming naïveté: his beloved human’s 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’s snotty in-laws. The dog’s 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.

What is the art of racing in the rain? I’m not entirely certain, but it seems to do with balance, anticipation, and patience—being ready for the unpredictable, or as Denny explained it to Eve, “possessing” the car at a level at which you can predict what it’s going to do in a certain situation—drenching rain, for instance.

Enzo does pass on toward the end of his story—yes, toward; you’ll have to read the book—but he knows that he won’t 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’s life. Even if it’s only bringing love or teaching patience, that’s huge.

There is, no doubt, a long wait at the library, but “The Art of Racing in the Rain” is available at Apostrophe Books on Second Street or Barnes and Noble.

Enzo has his own blog. Guess he did get reborn as a superior being.

Photo credit: John McAllister, Canada

Sometimes, however, it’s important to hold one’s position and not allow a pass…The one who drives smart will always win in the end.

~ Denny Swift, “The Art of Racing in the Rain”

Virtually Pets

Might any of these boys be your Enzo? Could you be his Danny or Zoe? Look into their eyes to see what their former owners couldn’t. All have been neutered, and none of them knows who his father is. All are available at our shelter, Animal Care Services (ACS), 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach.

Lucky, ID#488877, male smooth-coated Chihuahua mix, 5 years old

Ray, ID#A482849, male, Dalmatian/pit bull mix, 1 year old

Romeo, ID#A371410, male, Norfolk terrier mix, 8 years old

Pet Projects

Pet Lovers State License Plate Reaches Goal

From left: actor Pierce Brosnan, SCIL founder Judie Mancuso, Gov. Jerry Brown, Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan. Front and center: Sutter Brown, neutered

It’s taken about three years, but if you preordered one of the Pet Lovers License Plates from the DVM, it’s time to check your mailbox! Thanks to the combined efforts of Judie Mancuso, founder of Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL); actor Pierce Brosnan, who designed the plate; dog whisperer Cesar Millan and his Cesar Millan Foundation; and a nip in the heels from Gov. Jerry Brown and his Welsh corgi, Sutter, the goal of 7,500 plates has been reached. Sales proceeds will be distributed by grants to qualifying agencies, organizations and individuals to provide low-cost and no-cost spay and neuter to dogs, cats and rabbits in California.

“The most humane way not to kill a dog is to spay and neuter,” Millan said. “When we kill four to five million dogs nationally per year, what that says about our behavior is that we have become a disposable society.”

To give the driver behind you something else to think about besides extending his or her Pandora genre, order your plate here.

SpcaLA Adoptions, Saturday, Feb. 23, 10:30AM–3:30PM, PetSmart, 7631 Carson Blvd., Long Beach

Come meet the adorable adoptables who need and deserve forever homes, and purchase anything you need to make your new friend healthy, well cared for and happy.

Cat-Celeb Meetup, Saturday, Feb. 23, 11AM–12:30PM, P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach

Meet Lil Bub, whose “permakitten” status has made him an Internet celebrity. She’s accepting donations of cat litter, unopened cat food, and monetary donations for photos and kisses. All proceeds benefit spcaLA. Lil Bub merchandise will also be available; a portion of the proceeds will also benefit spcaLA.

A Second Chance Pet Adoption Event and St. Patrick’s Day Pet Pageant/Pet Fair, Sunday, March 10, 10 AM–3PM, Good Neighbor Park (2800 Studebaker Rd., Long Beach

The Pet Post USA in partnership with Pet Sit Pros pet sitters and dog walkers, will host a fun and exciting community event created to support a very important cause: pet adoption. The pet-loving community will enjoy music, entertainment, shopping food vendors, and a special St. Patty’s Pet Pageant. Nearly a dozen nonprofit dog and cat rescues groups will be onsite, seeking to find homes for hundreds of displaced pets. A special pet food and pet supply drive will take place and the collection, along with remaining proceeds from the event, will be donated to Homeless with Dogs (yay!), a unique organization that helps care for pets of the Long Beach homeless society.

Animal Care and Cruelty-Prevention Workshop, Thursday, March 21, time and location TBA

The Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office will host its annual conference in response to the great success from Long Beach and the surrounding communities. The conference will address two subject areas: humane education and legal issues for animal care professionals, prosecution statistics, conviction rates and stats about the animals housed in our local facilities. Deborah Knaan, deputy DA in charge of animal cruelty prosecution and Rebecca Johnson, sergeant of investigations with ACS, will speak, along with other professionals.

The Art of Racing in the Rain: ‘Long Beach Reads One Book’ Selection

More About Long Beach Reads One Book

Virtually Pets

Pet Projects