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38th out of 396 books
—
942 voters
Walking in Circles Before Lying Down
Dawn Tarnauer’s life isn’t exactly a success story. Already twice divorced, the young Californian is too busy job-hopping to start a career, her current boyfriend insists on living “off the grid,” her Life Coach sister perpetually interferes with incomprehensible affirmations, her eccentric mother is busy promoting the culmination of her life’s work: The Every Holiday Tree...more
Hardcover, 279 pages
Published
August 1st 2006
by Villard
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Wow. It's rare that I don't finish a book...or a movie, for that matter. Particularly one that I enter into *looking* for fluff.
"Walking in Circles" is, to me, the equivalent of "Elizabethtown" -- all of the right elements are there (appealing setting, familiar characters, familiar author/filmmaker), but were so unimaginatively executed, I had to stop half-way through so as to not reward lowest-common-denominator work.
"Walking in Circles" is, to me, the equivalent of "Elizabethtown" -- all of the right elements are there (appealing setting, familiar characters, familiar author/filmmaker), but were so unimaginatively executed, I had to stop half-way through so as to not reward lowest-common-denominator work.
I don't think that Merrill Markoe meant to write a work of great literature. This book is *fun*. If you have a good imagination and a sense of play, it's a very entertaining, wonderful book. Merill Markoe's dogs are much wittier and to the point than mine . Read it for fun. I laughed all the way through and have recommended it to all of the playful, imaginative people I know.
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As a dog owner, I found this book hilarious and strangely informative.
Did you ever think you could understand what your dog is saying to you? My beagle is constantly saying things like, "Take me out now please!" or "I really would like some of that organic uncured turkey bacon you're eating."
In this book, the main character's dog takes pity on her and really does start talking to her. And so do all the other dogs she knows, which is a lot as she works at a dog daycare.
And you know, I find mysel...more
Did you ever think you could understand what your dog is saying to you? My beagle is constantly saying things like, "Take me out now please!" or "I really would like some of that organic uncured turkey bacon you're eating."
In this book, the main character's dog takes pity on her and really does start talking to her. And so do all the other dogs she knows, which is a lot as she works at a dog daycare.
And you know, I find mysel...more
This was a cute one. It's about a girl who has a horrible dysfunctional family and keeps making bad choices. She works at a doggy day care. One day, after her boyfriend walks out on her, her dog (and all the other dogs) start talking to her, giving her advice, telling her to follow her instincts.
The family and relationship dynamics are things we've seen before- we all know she needs to dump the using boyfriend and go out with the cute nerd. What is unusual and funny is the dialogue with the dog...more
The family and relationship dynamics are things we've seen before- we all know she needs to dump the using boyfriend and go out with the cute nerd. What is unusual and funny is the dialogue with the dog...more
May 05, 2008
Tracy
added it
Recommends it for:
Animal Lovers
Recommended to Tracy by:
Ginny
Shelves:
for-animal-lovers
This book is wonderful for all the dog lovers out there. I just couldn't put it down! It rang so true b/c my dog was such a part of my family and I talked to her all the time. As I read the book I was laughing my butt off the whole time:) It did make me sad that my baby Girl is not living with me anymore but I am at peace with the decision I made. Boy if dogs could talk and tell all of our deep dark secrets...we would all be in trouble..lol It is sooo true that an animals love is unconditional b...more
Zippy and predictable, with one of the laugh out loud-est passages I have ever read. After some serious life missteps, the protagonist's dog, Chuck (a pit bull mix), starts talking to her. She also hears other dogs, like Johnny Depp, a little pup she house-sits for. And this happens:
...more
“Someone’s at the door! Someone’s at the door!!” they both yelled.
“I just told you, it’s my—” I called, knowing they couldn’t hear.
“Hey, get away from the door, you miserable jack-off,” I heard Chuck shout at my dad.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I love to lend this book to people. Unlike the Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which I hated more than I can say, this is a dog book that brings me endless joy.
Dawn is floundering, in both relationships and in life, and suddenly her beloved dog Chuck starts to talk to her. Not by moving his lips, like in those awful videos, but in her head. Besides translating dog behaviour for her, he offers solid advice as well as acting as the impetus for a series of amusing interactions.
I love th...more
Dawn is floundering, in both relationships and in life, and suddenly her beloved dog Chuck starts to talk to her. Not by moving his lips, like in those awful videos, but in her head. Besides translating dog behaviour for her, he offers solid advice as well as acting as the impetus for a series of amusing interactions.
I love th...more
The Blurb: Dawn Tarnauer's life isn't exactly a success story. Already twice divorced, the young Californian is too busy job-hopping to support a career, her Life Coach sister provides perpetual interference, and her eccentric parents need parenting. (Life in disarray, but not a tragedy. Promising start. ) Dawn's only source of security and comfort, it seems, is Chuck, a pit-bull mix from the pound. (Yay! Dogs! I love dogs!) So when her boyfriend announces that he's leaving her for another woman...more
It’s been a while since I’ve done a review. I was working by way through 1600 pages of Charles Dickens, simul-reading Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend. Not easy. As to this review:
This book is like Must Love Dogs with a side order of telepathy/human-to-animal psychic-ness. After breaking up with her boyfriend, twice-divorced Dawn, begins to think that her new rescue pup is talking to her. Not just him, actually, but all dogs. That freaks her out at first, but then she finds it comforting.
So i...more
This book is like Must Love Dogs with a side order of telepathy/human-to-animal psychic-ness. After breaking up with her boyfriend, twice-divorced Dawn, begins to think that her new rescue pup is talking to her. Not just him, actually, but all dogs. That freaks her out at first, but then she finds it comforting.
So i...more
In this Los Angeles-based story ripe with celebrity sightings and melodrama, Dawn's life is slowly breaking down. Newly dumped by her boyfriend Paxton, an arrogant radio DJ, Dawn moves into her little sister Halley's mobile home in Malibu and takes a job at a local veterinary. In these turbulent days, Dawn's dog Chuck serves as her closest ally and companion, and when he first starts "speaking" to her? She doesn't think much of it.
Until they're having full-blown conversations. She and her dog....more
Until they're having full-blown conversations. She and her dog....more
First book of the year and what trash it is. I'm nearly ashamed of myself for having taken the two hours to read it. But I kept thinking how writers learn from bad books as well as good, so I finished it.
It's cute, don't get me wrong. Concept could have worked. But the book should have started about page 50 (in fact, the previous pages are so unnecessary, it makes me think Markoe added them at the last minute), races through time in some places and slows way down for time in other places for re...more
It's cute, don't get me wrong. Concept could have worked. But the book should have started about page 50 (in fact, the previous pages are so unnecessary, it makes me think Markoe added them at the last minute), races through time in some places and slows way down for time in other places for re...more
I've been reading a lot, right? And I've been reading quite a few things that people have heard of - not every selection, but a lot of them. I look over the list so far and I see things that I'd heard about a long time ago and hadn't gotten around to reading, or things that someone else recommended to me that I thought I should take a look at.
But every now and then, I read a book that even I haven't heard of - and Walking in Circles Before Lying Down is one of those books. I found this on the sh...more
But every now and then, I read a book that even I haven't heard of - and Walking in Circles Before Lying Down is one of those books. I found this on the sh...more
Apr 19, 2011
Linden
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Linden by:
A radio interview with the author
Merrill Markoe certainly has down how animals behave, interacting with people and on their own. Her take on dog perspective and wisdom is spot on (sorry, some puns just happen). Walking in Circles Before Lying Down has plenty of those good animal moments in a story part fantasy and part social commentary about Dawn Tarnauer, a young woman looking for both work and successful relationships.
Dawn is in a tough place: her employment is sketchy, her boyfriend and family are clearly disfunctional and...more
Dawn is in a tough place: her employment is sketchy, her boyfriend and family are clearly disfunctional and...more
I should have liked this book more. I like Merrill Markoe. I LOVE dogs. So why don't I love this book? I feel like it was a bit all over the place. Hopeful when I read passages like "she had a sociopath tracking device where her heart was supposed to be" seemed promising. The dog starts to talk about 30% of the way in. He's just a carciature of what a human thinks a dog is saying. If we're comparing dog characters I loved Garth Stein's Enzo to pieces. Chuck is just the Adam Carolla of the dog wo...more
Ya know, I feel a bit let down after reading this book. The cover is literally squashed with reviewers talking about how witty and funny the doggy dialogue is, but I didn't think it was that great. Nothing was mind-blowingly funny, and several of the characters went beyond quirky and slipped slowly into the just-flat-annoying category. The plot was as transparent as really really old socks, and I ended up not caring about Dawn because why should I? She didn't seem to think she was worth anything...more
I enjoyed how this faux-memoire was written. Witty, charming and the main character was very realistic. Minus the hearing dogs talk.
I was totally shocked by what the dogs had to say, because every talking animal in any movie or book has been generally human like. While reading this book I kept finding my boyfriend giving me weird looks for laughing too loudly.
I have a cat currently who meows a lot and loudly. He sounds like Lil Wayne. But growing up I had dogs and when walks were described in...more
I was totally shocked by what the dogs had to say, because every talking animal in any movie or book has been generally human like. While reading this book I kept finding my boyfriend giving me weird looks for laughing too loudly.
I have a cat currently who meows a lot and loudly. He sounds like Lil Wayne. But growing up I had dogs and when walks were described in...more
My 12-year-old nephew Caleb got this for me at a garage sale because he knew I loved books and dogs (I think it was free, but still--isn't that sweet?). I had several other books waiting to be read, but this one was in my car one day when I needed something to read at the kids' football practice. I'm so glad I had it! I love the concept: a woman who works at a doggy daycare and keeps dating losers suddenly can hear her dog (a pit bull named Chuck) talking to her. Not only that, she can understan...more
Dawn has made some poor choices in men, and has been somewhat less than fortunate in her family (her sister is an obnoxious, but well-meaning Life Coach, who insists on practicing all of her coaching skills on Dawn, and her mother is completely self-absorbed). The only constant in her life is her dog Swentzle. Then Swentzle dies and Dawn ends up adopting a new dog – Chuck.
After Dawn nearly burns down the kitchen of the house where she’s dogsitting, and her boyfriend Paxton dumps her, she starts...more
After Dawn nearly burns down the kitchen of the house where she’s dogsitting, and her boyfriend Paxton dumps her, she starts...more
Right after a boyfriend dumps her, Dawn can hear dogs talking to her. Considering she works at a dog play space attached to a vet's office and also dogsits, she has the opportunity to hear from a lot of dogs, including her own dog, Chuck, a pit mix. My favorite (so far) is Margie, a basset hound who is new to the play space:
"May I asked you something important? Can I have a bowl of stew?"
"Didn't your daddy feed you before you got here?" I asked.
"Yes, but I'm ready to go again," she said. "Think...more
"May I asked you something important? Can I have a bowl of stew?"
"Didn't your daddy feed you before you got here?" I asked.
"Yes, but I'm ready to go again," she said. "Think...more
Feb 10, 2008
Michelle
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
animal lovers
I loved this book! If you love dogs, you should like it a lot. It was a really quick read, I literally read it in a few hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I wasn't feeling too well. I have 2 dogs and 3 cats and my husband and I are always talking to them and making them talk back to us, so this book was a great read for me. So cute!
Jun 23, 2012
Constance
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who like romantic comedies with talking dogs
I just want to be clear: the only reason I am giving this 3 stars is that there are dogs. And they talk.
This is a standard romantic comedy with all the same characters and an identical plot to all romantic comedies. The only difference is that the narrator gets romantic advice from her dog, which most dog-owners will realize is a dubious prospect at best. (My dog happens to love everyone in concordance with immediate proximity. Love the one you're with: that's her mantra.) That aside, Markoe, l...more
This is a standard romantic comedy with all the same characters and an identical plot to all romantic comedies. The only difference is that the narrator gets romantic advice from her dog, which most dog-owners will realize is a dubious prospect at best. (My dog happens to love everyone in concordance with immediate proximity. Love the one you're with: that's her mantra.) That aside, Markoe, l...more
Dawn’s sister, mother and father all have messy lives, but she can’t complain because hers is just as crazy. She has one or two failed marriages under her belt and her relationship with her boyfriend is rocky at best. Her employment is erratic and she seems to move every few months, if not weeks. But through it all she has her dog. Which makes is almost reasonable when he starts talking to her.
If you are going to read a book about a dog’s inner voice then I definitely recommend this over Racing...more
If you are going to read a book about a dog’s inner voice then I definitely recommend this over Racing...more
I moderated a humor panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this past April and Merrill was one of the panelists. She was so funny I had to have her on my show (and will, this coming Thursday).
I loved this book. So funny, and bittersweet. About her big love: dogs.
I loved this book. So funny, and bittersweet. About her big love: dogs.
This one was recommended to me and I thought I was going to enjoy it as being a really "different" read. Something about the idea of the main character's dog suddenly being able to give her advice on her life really appealed to me. If anyone will talk sense, it's a dog, right? However, putting words into a dog's mouth doesn't really work for me as this author has done it, I'm afraid to say. The characters are charmless, including the mutt who's doing the talking. There's too much swearing and to...more
I put down Wicked and looked at some of the bigger books on my shelf. Carrie would not let me get into anything heavy after I hated Wicked so much, so she handed me Walking in Circles, which she had picked up at the airport because it had a dog on the cover and was about dogs talking.
I fell asleep a lot while reading this book, mostly because I was picking it up after I was ready to fall asleep, so I never really tuned into a rhythm of this one. I wanted to like it more than I did. I genuinely l...more
I fell asleep a lot while reading this book, mostly because I was picking it up after I was ready to fall asleep, so I never really tuned into a rhythm of this one. I wanted to like it more than I did. I genuinely l...more
When Dawn finds herself without a job, without a real home, and without a boyfriend, there is one man she can count on: Chuck, her pitbull-mix. The one constant in her life, Dawn has loved dogs and centers her life around them. Partway through the book, after the dissolution of yet another relationship, she begins to actually hear the dogs. Yep, she can speak with them, in a telepathic kind of way. So as she navigates the rest of her life, she's got Chuck's antics and instincts there to help gui...more
I have mixed feelings about this book. I want to like it because it has a women I can relate to as the main character, but I also really really hate her. She keeps making the same mistakes over and over again and learns just about nothing. She gets lucky and finds a nice guy who she kinda learns to like. Also the whole mom thing just pissed me off... actually almost all the characters in this book pissed me off. I enjoyed the fact that this book showed that sometimes people have to make the same...more
Every once in a while you need to read something that is light and entertaining...this was it. The book centers around a young woman who suddenly discovers that she can hear dogs talking to her. Since our dogs actually witness the most intimate part of our lives, they would be able to give some pretty stellar insight into our lives (and therefore some great advice) if they could talk. Getting in touch with her canine companions actually gives her the insight she needs to straighten out her own l...more
This book was a quick, fun read but I was disappointed by it. I had heard an excerpt read on the radio and it was hilarious. It's about a young woman who is going through a lot of trials and tribulations: with her family, her job at a dog daycare center, her boyfriend, and the place where she lives. At some point during all the trauma she realizes she can hear what dogs are thinking -- not just her own but the ones at the day care center, too. And she can communicate back to them. The author's i...more
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“Maybe this is kind of cliche, but animals, well, dogs, are what I do for a living. One reason I like spending time with them so much is they seem to think people are really good. They live with us, and obey our rules, most of which make no sense to them. And the main reason they do it is because they like us. When I watch them, sometimes I'm so blow away by how enthusiastic they are about everything we do that I have to go out and buy them something squeaky or chewy. Just because I love proving to them that it's not a mistake to see the world as a great benevolent place. I hope one day to react to something with as much pure ecstasy as I see in Chuck's face every time I throw the ball. Sometimes he looks so happy, it reminds me of the way blind people smile way too big because they can't see themselves. And if none of this links to anything in you, well... I think you don't know who I am.”
—
21 people liked it
“I always hated those classic kid movies like Old Yeller or The Yearling where the beloved pet dies. What would be so wrong with having those damn kids learn their lessons about mortality from watching Grandpa kick? Then at least the dog would be around to comfort them.”
—
12 people liked it
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