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Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had
by
Rick Bass
COLTER pairs one of America's most treasured writers with our most treasured "best friend." Colter, a German shorthair pup, was the runt of the litter, and Rick Bass took him only because nobody else would. Soon, though, Colter surprised his new owner, first with his raging genius, then with his innocent ability to lead Bass to new territory altogether, a place where he fe...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
June 1st 2001
by Mariner Books
(first published 2000)
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Good book. I am sooo not a hunter, but can't help but smile at a man who loves his dog(s) so deeply. Me too. I relate. Even though I have never hunted, I have lived with German Shorthairs most of my life. Still do. I will give this book to my dad who was quite a bird hunter in his day and trained many a hunting dog. I know it will bring memories, smiles and maybe a few tears remembering his favorite dog - Zeke, the most beautiful black and white English Setter I have ever seen. Abby, Meggie, Wil...more
I only made it as far as Page 12 with this book. It's not that it was badly written or anything, but when I first read the jacket, it didn't say anything about hunting, which is why I decided to read it. However, it seems to me like that's mostly what this book is about, a man and his dog hunting together. And even though I don't like hunting and never will, that's not the reason why I couldn't read it. It's just that it was boring for me and I'm almost positive that it would have taken me a lon...more
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Rick Bass has a way with words that will capture your imagination, yet this book isn't one of his better written ones. I think the subject was too personal for him to back off and approach with a little more polish. Even so, the passion for Colter will carry you through the drier moments. [return][return]I enjoyed this love story for a dog he enjoyed for a few years. I tried not to criticize Bass in his relationship with Colter, but at times you wanted him to be a little more in charge. Colter w...more
I didn't finish this and I'll get into why in a second. I just noticed my younger sister tried to read this in Jan. 2009 and now that I see her review here I can remember her borrowing it and quickly returning it. She didn't like it and let me know about the hunting factor which she knows I'm not in favor of. (Neither is she.)
Well, I kept it (obviously) because everyone is different and maybe there would be something that I liked.
There wasn't. I didn't even make it to page 30 I think. There is n...more
Well, I kept it (obviously) because everyone is different and maybe there would be something that I liked.
There wasn't. I didn't even make it to page 30 I think. There is n...more
Beautiful memoir of his first bird dog, with quiet meditations on living and playing outside, the focus and full seeing and experiencing if the world through hunting, and many small asides about living life fully, with enthusiasm, and the gluttonous zest and yearning for living. I was already a fan of Bass, and this book meets my expectations. It is quite reminiscent of Aldo Leopold's essays, and is beautifully evocative that hunters can be, and really should be, our greatest environmentalists.
Really kind of disappointed in this book. It leads you to believe that its a happy tale. Just a guy and his dog, frolicking in the woods. Sure the hunting really isn't my thing, but he doesn't get many so its not so bad. What bugged me most was getting almost all the way through the book and then *spoiler alert*
tragedy strikes. The book ends on a downward note from there. I get that its real life and these things happen, but I wanted a happy ending and this just wasn't it.
tragedy strikes. The book ends on a downward note from there. I get that its real life and these things happen, but I wanted a happy ending and this just wasn't it.
A nice well-written memoir of a man's relationship to his hunting dogs, especially his favorite, Colter, a mischevious but talented pointer who captured his heart. I am not the greatest fan of hunting, though have fewer qualms with those who eat their prey, but I did enjoy the descriptions of nature and of the hunts, and particularly of the dogs. I think the best story is how he got his first two, sisters abandoned in an old house in the woods, destined for the pound yet saved by the mysterious...more
Let me start by saying I abhor hunting. Truly. I was almost put of by Mr. Bass's prologue because I don't want to read about "glee killings." This book has changed my mind. Mr. Bass has such a balanced approach to hunting, and to live, that I was intrigued. The writing is beautiful. He could almost - but not quite - pen menus and have me hooked. I am looking to read something else, anything else, by this author.
Jun 03, 2010
Stephanie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Dog owners, hunters, writers
Shelves:
dogs
The prose in this book approaches poetry at times it is so beautiful. Rick Bass did a wonderful job of capturing the energy he experiences while hunting birds with his dog. He also did a great job of putting into words the love he has in his heart and the special connection he had with his dog. His talent in observation and being able to put what he sees and feels into words on paper is unmatched.
The story was easy to read and moved along at a good pace for a memoirish piece. Being a dog owner...more
The story was easy to read and moved along at a good pace for a memoirish piece. Being a dog owner...more
This is a love story. Maybe a man's book, maybe about hunting, but if you've ever loved a dog with all your heart and seen that devotion returned, this is a book for you. This is a celebration of the joy of being in the outdoors.
I'm not a hunter nor am I interested in hunting but Bass' vivid and moving prose helped me understand, and appreciate, one environmentalist's obsession with bird hunting. A beautifully written memoir about a hunting dog.
I read this book almost every summer and have read all of his fiction and nonfiction alike. Bass writes with a kind of creativity, humility, and honesty that I really admire and appreciate.
Great writing, but not the dog book I was expecting. More about how his dog enhances his experience of wilderness, less about his relationship with the dog.
Well-written, but heart-breaking book. I expect all dog stories to end with the inevitable passing of the dog, but this story angered and upset me.
Another good dog story, this one about bird hunting in Montana. And you already know what happens to the dog....
A story about Rick's dog and how the two of them were travelers together in the Montana big sky country.
Nice little memoir. Very nicely written. I took my time reading it, which you can easily do with this book.
Expected more out of the book - colter sounds like every other shorthair I've ever known.
Not the best bird dog book, but it's okay.
I read this with my mom. It was awesome.
Favorite book ever.
Be prepared to cry
SOB SOB SOB
The best of the three dog books I have read this year. It is the best not because of the "best dog" but the author's ability to describe the emotion attached to hunting, appreciating nature and the ourdoors, and spending time with a dog you love. I will read some other titles from this author.
Enjoyable story about dogs that allowed to do what they've been bred to do; in this story they're bread to hunt and abound through the fields.
i read this one out loud to ben when we were living in a tent outside our friends home in vermont. well....actually we had moved in to the un-finished "addition" because of the stormy weather.....and well......this one is a tear jerker.....ben and i BOTH cried. we LOVED this book. i am a big fan of rick bass's writing and this one is one of my favorites. a little book, with a HUGE heart.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I really enjoyed this book--although admittedly not a big bird-hunting fan (and a good deal of this book revolves around hunting descriptions), Rick Bass's writing is so wonderful, I was drawn right in. His writing is vivid, and heartfelt, and at times very humorous. If you like good dog stories, or just plain skilled non-fiction writing, I'd recommend this book!
If you have ever loved our pets more than your spouse or sister or whatever, you'll get the connection this author forged with his prized dog Colter. The entire story reminds me to cherish my pets and give back to them the little things they give me each day.
PS- I had fun learning about birding dogs, which I didn't know anything about.
PS- I had fun learning about birding dogs, which I didn't know anything about.
Colter is simultaneously the most heartwarming, most heartbreaking story I have ever read. If you don't have a very soft spot for dogs, you may not give it a five, but you'll still enjoy the superb, descriptive prose.
I've read Colter twice and have given away two copies to others to demonstrate my love for this text.
I've read Colter twice and have given away two copies to others to demonstrate my love for this text.
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Rick Bass was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in Houston, the son of a geologist. He studied petroleum geology at Utah State University and while working as a petroleum geologist in Jackson, Mississippi, began writing short stories on his lunch breaks. In 1987, he moved with his wife, the artist Elizabeth Hughes Bass, to Montana’s remote Yaak Valley and became an active environmentalist, wo...more
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“I do not concern myself with my inability to feel such comfort amidst humans (other than with very few friends and family), but, rather, am simply thankful that at least dogs exist, and I’m humbly aware of how much less a person I’d be – how less a human – if they did not exist. ”
—
27 people liked it
“A dog creates, transcribes, a new landscape for you. A dog like Colter sharpens your joy of all the seasons, and for a while, sometimes a long while, such a dog seems capable, by himself alone, of holding time in place--of pinning it, and holding it taught. And then when he is gone, it is as if the world is taken away.
Dogs like that are young for what seems like a very long time....
One you have lost a dog--especially the first you trained from a pup, the one you first set sail into the world with--you can never fully give of yourself to another dog. You can never again look at a dog you love without hedging a tiny bit, if only subconsciously, against the day when that dog, too, must leave. You can never again hunt or enter the future so recklessly, so joyously, with that weight of forethought....
As I sleep restlessly, night after night, or more often, as I lie there awake, I can see him running and I feel guilty that I am not there to honor the birds he is finding... One way or the other, he is still out there running. He will never rest.... I will always want him to know a moment's rest, and peace, and he will always know in his hot heart that the only peace to be gotten is by never resting, by always pushing on.
He is my Colter.... I am still his, and he is still mine.”
—
9 people liked it
More quotes…
Dogs like that are young for what seems like a very long time....
One you have lost a dog--especially the first you trained from a pup, the one you first set sail into the world with--you can never fully give of yourself to another dog. You can never again look at a dog you love without hedging a tiny bit, if only subconsciously, against the day when that dog, too, must leave. You can never again hunt or enter the future so recklessly, so joyously, with that weight of forethought....
As I sleep restlessly, night after night, or more often, as I lie there awake, I can see him running and I feel guilty that I am not there to honor the birds he is finding... One way or the other, he is still out there running. He will never rest.... I will always want him to know a moment's rest, and peace, and he will always know in his hot heart that the only peace to be gotten is by never resting, by always pushing on.
He is my Colter.... I am still his, and he is still mine.”
