Goodreads | Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog

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Difficult Dogs	13	48	22 days ago, 12:50PM

James rated it:

03/02/08

Read in February, 2008

I have a dog (my first) and like all good, over-excited, enthusiastic first-time parents, when I got it I had every intention of reading every single goddamned book on the topic. Marley & Me by John Grogan was the next on a long and ever-expanding list. It had been on the bestseller lists for quite a long time and so I was expecting it to be a light, enjoyable read. The kind palatable to the masses and easily read between Mitch Albom and Nicholas Sparks.

With “Marley & Me,” I was ...more I have a dog (my first) and like all good, over-excited, enthusiastic first-time parents, when I got it I had every intention of reading every single goddamned book on the topic. Marley & Me by John Grogan was the next on a long and ever-expanding list. It had been on the bestseller lists for quite a long time and so I was expecting it to be a light, enjoyable read. The kind palatable to the masses and easily read between Mitch Albom and Nicholas Sparks.

With “Marley & Me,” I was expecting a dog book, a man’s book. I mean, right on the cover is a picture of a cute little puppy looking up at the camera with innocent, loving eyes and a subtitle reading, “Life And Love With The World’s Worst dog.” So I was expecting a book about a man and his dog.

What I got was a book about marriage and babies, two things that gross me out. Two things that my feelings about rank somewhere between ironing shirts and slamming my penis in a sliding door.

That being said, this book is very, very good. By page thirty-two, my eyes were welling with tears. The book actually ended up being a relatively slow read because I had to stop every other paragraph to lift weights, drink beer at a strip club, and watch kung fu movies in my underwear while eating a bowl of cereal for dinner. You see, “Marley & Me” is not a story about a man and his dog. “Marley & Me” is the story of a young married couple that adopts a dog. Like all good characters in good stories, this particular dog is not perfect. In fact, it’s an outrage. Marley is a barking, drooling, rampaging, gnawing, destroying, pillaging Viking of a dog. His energy is endless. He is kicked out of obedience school. He eats expensive necklaces. He rips apart furniture. He destroys an entire garage. He transforms into a howling terror of a werewolf during thunderstorms. He never stops. He is always moving, his frenetic tail constantly wagging and tipping over anything in its oscillating path.

With Marley’s hyperactive and destructive back story carefully laid out, it is an emotional scene when the couple gets pregnant, only to lose the baby in the first trimester, and the mom comes home to be comforted by the surprisingly now-calm Marley with his big head on her lap and his still, patient body consolingly at her side. I am a non-breeder and when reading this scene I was an absolute mess. I was a thirteen-year-old girl saying goodbye to her friends at the end of summer camp. I was a mother at her daughter’s wedding ceremony. I was the girlfriend who didn’t get anything from her boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. I was Meryl Streep in a Meryl Streep movie: weepy and distraught. Grogan poignantly balances the humor, stress, and satisfaction of pet ownership with a young wife as they transition into parenthood. His story is a pleasure to read in its effortless weaving of funny anecdotes, emotional growth, and the changing priorities that come with parenthood, all with an amusing animal for comic relief. Hollywood could not have done better.

The Grogans get pregnant again and their birth story is one of the more interesting ones I have heard (again, I’m a non-breeder so hearing this kind of schmaltzy crap usually bores me to tears. Why do you tell me this stuff? What do you want me to say, “Congratulations, you successfully carried out a maneuver that baboons accomplish every goddamned day, but with less fanfare, books, websites, and talking?”) But the Grogan’s story is quite remarkable as it offers a unique window into the child birthing methods of America. Before the birth, they reserve and pay extra for an upgraded, special birthing suite. When the big day arrives, however, they arrive at the hospital to learn that all of these suites are full. “We can’t control when women go into labor,” a nurse tells them. Not only that, however, but all of the “normal” labor and delivery rooms are full as well. A few phone calls, some scrambling, and they are led into a completely different part of the hospital. The room they are put in is bare and unadorned, lacking the floral curtains, pastel pillows, and cushy couch for dad that they had expected from their pre-natal tour.

The section they are in is for the poorer, mostly immigrant population of their southern Florida community. Seeing their dismay and concern, the Grogan’s doctor assures them that since the poor typically cannot afford prenatal care, they tend to have higher-risk pregnancies so their room was actually equipped with more specialized tools and instruments to prepare for these higher-risk deliveries. Also, these poorer immigrants cannot afford the expensive, pain-relieving epidurals that have become such a common part of births in America, so throughout their entire birth the Grogan’s are treated to the un-drugged screams and painful yelps of their impoverished neighbors. As a non-breeder and a bleeding heart liberal, all of this was thoroughly, thoroughly fascinating. Who would have thought? I open a book looking for a Jack London-esque dog story and get a socio-economic examination of the United States. Ah, books! And to think there’s more to this world than the news and current events I was getting from my usual two sources: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and my pot dealer.

From there, the story meanders down a gently twisting road into an enjoyable story of an American family, complete with happiness and sadness, disappointment and success, children and pet, jobs and vacations. The Grogans get pregnant again and with this baby mom goes into labor months too soon and is relegated to strict bed-rest to prevent a premature birth. A healthy baby boy is finally born at the same hospital and the day after Donald Trump’s baby. Afterwards, mom battles severe post-partum depression and demands that Marley be given away. At this point in the book, I remember silently chanting my encouragements to the narrator to “Get rid of the wife! Keep the dog! Keep the dog!” Ultimately, there was no need for such drastic measures, it’s too good and perfect of a story for tragedy. This story is one where wives and misbehaving dogs learn to live in harmony. There is the birth of a third kid (a girl!), a new job and move to Pennsylvania (complete with dog bellowing from the belly of the plane, serenading all un-amused passengers as his owners play dumb, feigning ignorance and similar disgust at such an obnoxious beast).

And through all of this idyllic American family’s adventure and change, Marley is there, though growing ever older. Marley of course eventually trots into the sunset and my tears were plinking down on the pages the whole way, Grogan tugging every one of my heartstrings. Since I have gotten a dog, I have often remarked that they make great starter-kids. In fact, I have often wondered why parents bother upgrading to human children given that dogs are expensive, entertaining, time-consuming, and very rewarding.

Now I know. Dogs die. We need something that will stick around a bit longer and wipe our ass....less

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Dave rated it:

(review of isbn 0060817089)

09/20/07

Read in December, 2006

This is a mediocre book written by horrible dog owners.

Marley sounds like an amusing guy; but I think pets are like kids - you don't get nearly as much joy from people telling you stories about their kids as you do from watching your own. I have dogs whom I love very much, and often things they do I find to be very entertaining even though others might not derive the same level of enjoyment if I were to tell them all about it. For this reason, there are no parts of the book that are truly fu...more This is a mediocre book written by horrible dog owners.

Marley sounds like an amusing guy; but I think pets are like kids - you don't get nearly as much joy from people telling you stories about their kids as you do from watching your own. I have dogs whom I love very much, and often things they do I find to be very entertaining even though others might not derive the same level of enjoyment if I were to tell them all about it. For this reason, there are no parts of the book that are truly funny. Perhaps I would have laughed at some parts of the book if Marley was my dog, or if I at least knew Marley - but he's not, and I don't.

Unfortunately, this isn't what I disliked most about the book. What really stands out is that the author and his wife are horrible pet owners. At best they are negligent parents. More accurately, I think quite a bit of their behavior borders on animal abuse. In the half of the book I read, they did the following:

* Decided to get a dog for purely selfish purposes (parental practice)
* Read nothing about the breed before choosing to adopt a Lab
* Failed to do any research into the breeder
* Failed to seek out a trainer to work with Marley's quirks despite obvious behavioral issues
* Failed to provide Marley with adequate protection from storms which completely terrified him
* Used a choker with zeal, while almost deriving joy from Marley's near self strangulation
* Allowed Marley to escape from a moving vehicle, seemingly finding humor in Marley hanging out a moving car by his collar

The worst part comes at the end. During the last few weeks of his life, Marley becomes very sick. What does the author do? He leaves the dog at the vet's office and packs the family into the van for a Disney vacation. Fortunately he gets back just in time to have Marley put down. I then get the impression that he expects us to feel sorrow for his loss.

I can't imagine going on vacation while either of my pets are left, deathly ill, at the vet's office. I had already developed a strong dislike for the author's idea of pet care. This last incident really validated that opinion. ...less

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Oceana2602 rated it:

07/14/07

bookshelves: 2006, dogs

Read in June, 2006

recommends it for: dog owners

This is one of the handful of books I have read where I have read the ending first. See, Marley and Me is a book about a dog. And books about dogs, especially the ones written by men, usually end with the dog dying. They dsecribe the whole life of the dog, make me fall in love with it, and then it dies. So, after I had fallen in love with Marley the dog, I decided to read about his death first, and then read about the rest of his life, leaving him at a point where he is still young and healthy a...more This is one of the handful of books I have read where I have read the ending first. See, Marley and Me is a book about a dog. And books about dogs, especially the ones written by men, usually end with the dog dying. They dsecribe the whole life of the dog, make me fall in love with it, and then it dies. So, after I had fallen in love with Marley the dog, I decided to read about his death first, and then read about the rest of his life, leaving him at a point where he is still young and healthy and I could imagine a happy end for him.

Other than that, this book is entertaining, but it's a particular kind of entertainment only dog owners can fully appreciate. Because I really doubt people who don't have dogs will want to read about fleas, or dog puke, or drool dripping off everywhere. Marley, of course, isn't the worst dog, and this is the part where I got angry. See, where I live, no one would ever have the idea that a dog would be happy with the backyard and could be left alone all day in the garage. People frown upon that kind of behaviour here, even people who don't own dogs. Dogs are commitment, they need walks, at least three times a day, ideally more, they need someone to be with them at least half the day, and they need contact with other dogs. So, if I read about Marley's "dog poo bombs" in the backyard, I don't feel sorry at all. My own dog would never even pee in our garden. There is no reason for a dog to pee in his own territory unless there is no other place they can go to.

And if I read about Marley being untrainable and having to be calmed with sedatives, I see a poor Labrador, whom nobody ever tried to train properly, who doesn't know what to do with his energy because he is only taken for walks every couple of days, who never really had the chance to play with other dogs.

Read more about the not so good things I have to say about the idiot author of this book and on the subject of babies and dogs here, if you want:
http://users.livejournal.com/o...
(they really limit your reviews over here? 4000 characters? But I LIKE to talk! ;-)

Right.
Where were we? Oh, the book. Well, I liked Marley, but I think that people who have a dog for 13 years and still don't know the first thing about dogs, shouldn't be allowed to write books about them. Let alone get a new dog....less

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Mike rated it:

01/06/08

Read in August, 2006

recommended to Mike by: Jessica

OK, I was determined to hate this book. I mean, really, a fuckin' doggie book. Why would I actually read this? Well, because the woman recommending it to me shares an indomitable lover of the written word as i am. Jessica guided me through "Grapes of Wrath" which I tried to struggle through twice before her and hated every last letter until she got to me. I've read it twice since. She also got me to read "Watership Down", a fuckin bunny book. I'm not reading that shit. Well, ...more OK, I was determined to hate this book. I mean, really, a fuckin' doggie book. Why would I actually read this? Well, because the woman recommending it to me shares an indomitable lover of the written word as i am. Jessica guided me through "Grapes of Wrath" which I tried to struggle through twice before her and hated every last letter until she got to me. I've read it twice since. She also got me to read "Watership Down", a fuckin bunny book. I'm not reading that shit. Well, read it I did and it was a great book. So, with great reservation I borrowed "Marley and Me" and promised to read this doggie book. It only took about a month to get around to it. But it only took about 4 days to read it.

"Marley and Me" is John Grogan's ode to his Labrador Retriever, Marley. A big, buffoon of a dog.
"Marley and Me" is not great literature. I didn't even know it was a good book until I finished it. It's about a newly wedded couple and their whacked out labrador retreiver, Marley. Marley eats everything, doesn't follow commands, attacks guests with his tongue and gets freaked into cataclysmic destruction by thunder storms. He actually sounds a lot like a larger version of my friend Chris' dog, Buddy. A flat-out psychotic dog that you can't help but love and laugh at.
Grogan is obviously a talented wordsmith as you can clearly see all the drool and damage this dog causes. You can also clearly feel the devotion Marley feels towards his masters as well as his masters love of him. As the book goes on you experience the growth of the Grogan family through this maniac dog. As I said, I didn't even know this was a good book until I read the last word.
Halfway through I knew it was well written, but I wasn't particularly moved. I knew the dog. I knew the family. I just didn't really care about either of them. A family becoming a bigger family with a crazy dog...so what? As Marley gets older you start to realize that you care. When he can't tear through their house was quite the same reckless abandon you care. And when you get to the end, if you've ever had a pet, your eyes tear up a lil bit.
Damn you Jessica, you were right. It was good. It was a decent 4 day trip with Marley.
...less

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Meagan rated it:

(review of isbn 0060817097)

03/26/08

Read in April, 2007

I had been tempted to read this at my last run to the book store, but I put off. Since then I had caught eye of some promising reviews, so this time picked it and read the first few pages (a must for me in deciding to read a book.)

The first little jaunt was amusing and heartfelt. So I took it.

The rest of the book was then a little more than expected, but I had the right idea. A very truthful. heartfelt and lighthearted story of a man and his crazy, hyper, misbehaved, possibly mentally d...more I had been tempted to read this at my last run to the book store, but I put off. Since then I had caught eye of some promising reviews, so this time picked it and read the first few pages (a must for me in deciding to read a book.)

The first little jaunt was amusing and heartfelt. So I took it.

The rest of the book was then a little more than expected, but I had the right idea. A very truthful. heartfelt and lighthearted story of a man and his crazy, hyper, misbehaved, possibly mentally disturbed dog.

A young married couple, after the swift death of a plant, gets an adorable ball of energy named Marley to prove they have the nurturing capabilities that will one day make them good parents. For all the unexpected pain in the rump that Marley proves to be, he proves to only be that much more enduring and brimming with loyalty. A story from puppy hood to adult hood, for both the lovers and the dog, it is very amusing and very true to life. (Good thing it is non-fiction)

While this piece of non-fiction was certainly lighter than my last (Infidel) I read the last bit in tears. I knew it was going to happen before I opened the cover. It's a non fiction piece about a dog and dogs don't live forever. Surely if he merited a book, he wasn't still tearing up sofas and eating dry wall.

In fact I find that anyone that has lost a loyal pet will probably take the inevitable passing of the big doof with at least a tightened throat.
Than again, I giggled, and smiled and sometimes even laughed throughout the rest of the entire book.

Even though John is sometimes a bit of a dork, its a good story and a good read. Especially if your a pet owner and even more so if that pet is a dog. It is seldom I read something that makes me giggle or laugh out loud of all things and even seldom er that anything makes me cry. The whole process if very uplifting, with a clear and honest message about how to live life.

If you love dogs read it. IF you love animals read it. If you have or had had an animal read it. If you like lighthearted nonfiction, read it.

Clear and honest reading. It is a true exploration of dog and his human.

...less

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Beth rated it:

02/19/08

Read in December, 2006

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

So I'm actually one of those who tend to sway to the Molly Mormon side of things (okay, okay; I’m a stick-in-the-mud goody-two-shoes), and consequently I’ve got to preface my whole review by saying that Marley and Me will probably not be available at Deseret Book anytime soon. It’s not that it’s full of inappropriate language, sex, and violence (if it was a movie, I’m not even sure it would go to PG-13), but there’s some of that kind of thing included. I’d feel embarrassed bearing ...more

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Kristine rated it:

09/13/07

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: dog lovers (especially Lab lovers)

This is the first book that has ever, and I emphasize EVER, made me laugh so hard and cry so much. All in one book!

Marley & Me is the predictable and somewhat cliche story about a dog and his owner. If you pick up this book expecting a unique story, put it down and look for something else.

If you pick up this book expecting to learn about how to train your dog, put it down and look for something else.

If you pick up this book wanting to read a touching, but very entertaining stor...more

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Beth rated it:

04/16/08

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Beth by: My favorite "Dog Dad", Chris Bell
recommends it for: Anyone who likes dogs.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I was given this book by my favorite "dog Dad" and read it in two days, just as he predicted. It was fun to read for anyone who has ever had and loved a dog, especially a lab. I have never owned a lab but have known some and this seems very accurate. I do agree with some reviewers on here that I think the owners *may* have contributed a teeny bit to Marley's behavioral issues! But I have noticed that Labs can be very hard to control and the situations the Grogans found themselves in so...more

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Ryan rated it:

10/17/07

Read in July, 2007

OK, I'm a complete sucker for this book. Yes, some of the anecdotes are things that every pet owners experiences, and are not really that compelling as a result. And some parts of it are more about life with a dog than the life of a dog. It was well written though, and really funny at times. Marley sounds like he was a complete love.

And that is why it was so tough to read the end. Yes, you know how it ends. But Grogan's description of the canine aging process is really accurate. Dogs do live...more

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Shira rated it:

07/13/08

Read in July, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I really enjoyed this book, probably because I could identify a bit too much with the author's woes with his crazy dog, Marley! Although I have to say that next to Marley, even our nuttiest family pets seem relatively tame! The author did a very good job of interweaving the tale of Marley with the overall story of over a decade in the life of his family, encompassing all of the ups and downs and heartaches that a family faces. I found it hysterically funny at times, deeply touching at others,...more

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Caitlyn rated it:

03/04/07

Read in August, 2006

recommends it for: Anyone, especially dog owners. Even more especially Lab owners.

Last week I was walking my lab puppy down town and a woman happened to stop me. Just like their dogs, lab owners are the friendliest of their breed. More often than not I get stopped by people with labs, and on most occassions these people have outrageous stories about what their labs have done. This woman and I traded stories, her puppy eating pizza out of her husbands mouth, my lab's attempts to get into any water (shower, sink, puddles, rivers) as possible. She mentioned this book, which by c...more

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Donna rated it:

(review of isbn 0060817089)

09/06/07

Read in January, 2006

recommends it for: any one who has a love and passion for their "horrible" dog.

I loved this book. My now husband bought it for me last year for my birthday. When we had started dating, we found and loved a little mutt named Stella. When she was killed, our world was rocked. We felt foolish for being so upset over a dog. Neither one of us could stop crying for weeks. We didn't even have her a year when she died. This book made us both feel so good becuase it reminded us why we were so devistated. It was not only because Stella was a PERFECT dog. It was that she was th...more

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Christy rated it:

03/23/08

recommends it for: dog lovers

The author, John Grogan, and his wife, Jenny, newly married and worried about facing the trials and tribulations of raising children, decided owning a dog would be good practice for them. With fond memories of childhood pets leading them onward, they picked Marley, a Labrador retriever, from a large litter of pups. From day one, Marley proved to be a handful. He devoured everything in sight, tore through the house, ripped through screen doors, flung spit over the walls and guests, and worst of a...more

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Donna rated it:

04/11/08

Read in January, 2007

I recommend this book to all dog lovers and to anyone who doesn't have a anmimal in the family. John Grogan had me laughing out loud at Marley's antics and crying at the end. I also have a lab, so I know how energic they could be. My dog Taylor is a big black mixed breed, lovable and funny.

I laughed so hard with some of Marley's antics -getting caught half in and half out of the car on his way to the vet to get fixed!! chewing anything in sight and like any lab the tail that is a lethal wea...more

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Jocelynlt rated it:

02/24/08

bookshelves: best-and-brightest, humor

Read in July, 2007

Not just for "dog people!" I loved this book - not just because Grogan has a talent for writing humor, but because he has a talent for writing humanity into everyday occurrences. Grogan in 15 years will likely be on the level of Bill Bryson - perhaps the Bryson of dogLit? Let's hope that this isn't his opus and that there more books like this waiting to come out.

This book is about a family and their lovable, funny, but slightly demented golden retriever, Marley. Grogan manages to co...more

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Mark rated it:

(review of isbn 0060817089)

07/18/07

Read in March, 2006

recommends it for: dog lovers, humor fans

I'm a dog person. I see them as basically goofy entertainment accessories most of the time, and every so often a dog will do something to win your heart. However, this is usually a difficult thing to describe completely and honestly to someone unfamiliar with dog ownership. John Grogan has managed to capture in a relatively brief 300 pages all the joy (and sadness) owning a dog can bring to a life, and to a family.

If, like me, you've shared part of your life and living space with a dog, the...more

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YiShun rated it:

05/13/08

This book is remarkable for the way that John Grogan describes dog noises. I've always wondered how to describe the noise that Sprocket makes when he is throwing up, and now I know.
This book made me cry: I'm a dog owner and also very very squashy when it comes to emotional bits, with which this book is rife.
This is not a book about a dog. This is a book about a man whose life has been pretty extraordinary. He's been blasted by lightning, been a columnist and a magazine editor, held a stabbin...more

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Michele rated it:

03/08/08

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Michele by: Cathy
recommends it for: Anyone who has or has ever had a pet.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sherese rated it:

06/23/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for:

Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog

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