The Art of Racing in the Rain

published	May 5th 2008 by Harper Collins Canada
binding	Hardcover
isbn	1554681723 (isbn13: 9781554681723)
ebook
description	Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself b...more [close] Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life's ordeals. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through: the sacrifices Denny has made to succeed professionally; the unexpected loss of Eve, Denny's wife; the three-year battle over their daughter, Zoë, whose maternal grandparents pulled every string to gain custody. In the end, despite what he sees as his own limitations, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family, holding in his heart the dream that Denny will become a racing champion with Zoë at his side. A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it. [close]
date added	04-02-08 edit book

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Jeff rated it:

08/12/08

bookshelves: overdrive-library, sony-reader

Read in August, 2008

"That which we manifest is before us." The Art of Racing in the rain is the story of a family from a dog's perspective. Enzo, Denny's dog, is loyal to his master a semi-pro race car driver. The lessons of racing become lessons for life. The art of dealing with adversity, facing your deepest fears, while learning how one dog yearns to be a man(And beware of the zebra of fear). As one reviewer noted, you'll look at your dogs in a different light after reading this book. The ending will ...more

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Anastacia rated it:

07/02/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Anastacia by: No one - I came across it in bookstore.
recommends it for: animal lovers, dog lovers

I was meandering around Borders one Saturday when I saw a dog's head on the cover of a book, and since I am magnetized to animals (especially dogs), I had to pick it up and leaf through it. I was pleasantly surprised to read the cover to find out it is written entirely from the perspective of a dog. Adorable and unique; I have always wanted to know what it's like in the mind of a dog. Although obviously written by a person (or my dog has some explaining to do as I was under the impression tha...more I was meandering around Borders one Saturday when I saw a dog's head on the cover of a book, and since I am magnetized to animals (especially dogs), I had to pick it up and leaf through it. I was pleasantly surprised to read the cover to find out it is written entirely from the perspective of a dog. Adorable and unique; I have always wanted to know what it's like in the mind of a dog. Although obviously written by a person (or my dog has some explaining to do as I was under the impression that dogs do not have opposable thumbs and can't write), it would be so interesting and heartwarming to read through a dog's perspective.

By page six I was sobbing and sniffling.

I didn't buy the book then because, as an animal lover, I am especially sensitive to certain subjects. As a doggy mom, I am more sensitive and I can't bear to think about certain things, whether peaceful or otherwise. I cry watching Animal Cops. I cry whilst watching Wild Discovery. I love animals intensely. So when I read those first six pages and discovered how the story would unfold, I didn't think I could do it. I felt like I needed to get my bearings. I did and I bought it.

The book isn't short, but I read it on one Sunday. I couldn't stop. There were many times where my tears were blurring my vision and I couldn't read further until I wiped my eyes sloppily. But there were also many times when I laughed out loud, something I rarely do. When you're an avid reader, you tend to immunize yourself to a really good laugh (or a good scare, although that wasn't at play here). But Enzo, the dog, is witty, hilarious, immensely introspective, brilliant and sensitive. And I cried more because of this, because he is all of these things and because he was being so unflinchingly brave and honest. And, yeah, I know it was written by a man and not a dog, but if you've ever been a parent to a dog you'll know that the author's voice is eerily similar to expressions and personality "isms" that are directed at you every day.

My pup is very well taken care of and loved with a fierceness that astonishes me, but after reading this book I have been talking to him, laying on the floor with him, treating him more as a friend who can hear and understand me even though he can't form or speak the words through his mouth. This story is beautiful and hopeful and devastatingly sad, but it is told in such a delicate way that you'll find yourself sobbing but feeling okay about it. If Enzo is okay, I thought, then so am I.

Maybe it's because this is what I want to hear and what I want to think because I know my own boy will leave me some day, but I want to believe that all of Enzo's thoughts are real and that when it is time, they want you to let them go. I can't imagine it and I'm tearing up just writing this, but maybe thinking about this when I'm forced to will make it just a tiny, infinitesimal bit less paralyzingly heartbreaking.

The book took my breath away and makes me feel closer to my dog. For that alone I am indebted....less

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Andrea rated it:

07/31/08

bookshelves: my-favorites

This is the best book I have read in a long time!

Let me just say - I'm not a race car fan at all, but this book really isn't about race car driving. It's about the love a dog has for its humans, the nature of life, and how - according to the dog - race car driving is a metaphor for all of life. (And I have to admit that I'm crying my eyes out right now!)

To start at the beginning, the book is narrated by the dog - Enzo. He is smart and funny, observant and clever, good and loyal. He i...more This is the best book I have read in a long time!

Let me just say - I'm not a race car fan at all, but this book really isn't about race car driving. It's about the love a dog has for its humans, the nature of life, and how - according to the dog - race car driving is a metaphor for all of life. (And I have to admit that I'm crying my eyes out right now!)

To start at the beginning, the book is narrated by the dog - Enzo. He is smart and funny, observant and clever, good and loyal. He is everything a dog should be. He watches TV and learns from TV documentaries - although he's never learned to read even though he tried by watching Sesame Street. He thinks that humans are evolved from dogs and not monkeys - as in case study #2 when he says "The full moon rises. The fog clings to the lowest branches of the spruce trees. The man steps out of the darkest corner of the forest and finds himself transformed into...A monkey? I think not."

After watching a documentary about Mongolia and how they believe that dog's are reincarnated as humans, he knows that he is a misplaced human soul in a dog's body and when he dies he'll become human. He has it all planned out and while he doesn't long for death, he is certainly ready to embrace it. And so he practices being human and controlling his base animal instincts.

His love of race car driving? He watches races all day, and his owner, Denny, is a race car driver. Often they even watch the races together!

As the reader, you become intimately connected with Enzo - his every thought and emotion. But reality isn't so skewed in this book that he can talk. He has to communicate with gestures which frustrates him greatly. But that's one reason why this book is SO good...at least if you've ever owned a pet. It's believable. Reading this I believe - I believe that pets could/do communicate with us and understand us. I became completely immersed in Enzo's world.

Of course, Enzo's world centers around his family which is absolutely just torn apart by tragedy and maddening circumstances - his wife's death due to brain cancer, his in-laws suing him for custody, a made up law-suit against him so they can win custody of his granddaughter. Visitation rights being revoked, his entire life's savings gone with lawyer and trial fees. Almost giving up time after time after time. Enzo is there narrating the entire thing, giving his perspective of the situation and being there completely and utterly for a human in need.

There is a heartbreaking scene when Enzo is hit by a car and Denny rushes him to the hospital. And Denny can't afford to pay the vet bill because he has nothing. And even though Enzo is in such pain afterwards and he never fully recovers, he pretends he is fine for Denny because he knows that Denny doesn't have the money to pay for more vet bills!

In the end, everything works out for Denny and his daughter Zoey. And in the end, of couse, Enzo gets what he wishes for. But in the end, he realizes there is so much more to life that he wants to live. In the end he realizes that he doesn't want to leave Denny and Zoey even though they don't need him as much anymore. And in the end, Enzo is reincarnated as a human - a boy who is a natural born race car driver named Enzo who is Denny's biggest fan.

I loved this book! Loved it! I can't express how much I loved this book. Go out and read it today!!!! "Sometimes I believe...Sometimes I really do believe!"...less

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Jamie rated it:

07/03/08

Read in July, 2008

This book was a gift from my father-in-law, who knows that I like to read and that I like dogs. I knew the moment I read the title and looked at the cover and read the inside of the dust jacket that it wasn’t the kind of book I would ever choose for myself, but it was a gift, and I read pretty much anything whenever I have the chance to, so I decided I’d give it a shot. I made it all the way through, but barely.

The first thing I could not help but notice was the writing style, composed ...more This book was a gift from my father-in-law, who knows that I like to read and that I like dogs. I knew the moment I read the title and looked at the cover and read the inside of the dust jacket that it wasn’t the kind of book I would ever choose for myself, but it was a gift, and I read pretty much anything whenever I have the chance to, so I decided I’d give it a shot. I made it all the way through, but barely.

The first thing I could not help but notice was the writing style, composed of simply constructed sentences and sentence fragments, presented in a generic philosophical style. My next issue was with using a dog as a first-person (er…canine) narrator. I plead guilty to anthropomorphizing my dog, but I still find it annoying when other people do it, and an entire book narrated by a philosophizing dog just doesn’t work for this story on many different, important levels. There are several funny, dear moments, but they happen rarely.

Perhaps if I was interested in car racing I would have liked this better. A huge portion of the book is spent discussing races, racing, cars, professional drivers, car racing history, and drawing analogies between car racing and life, repeated over and over in case you missed it the first, second, third, or fourth time.

The best part of the book was the first chapter, and then the second to the last chapter. In these pages, Enzo’s voice comes through clearest and most successfully. Besides Denny and Enzo, all the characters are poorly developed and function only in their role to continue the ridiculously dramatic, tabloid-worthy plot which succeeds only in provoking a sense of outrage. Between the shock-and-awe plot jumps, the story is stuffed full of mundane, pointless details and trite catch-phrases meant to be deep and meaningful. I found it to be obvious and artless.

I know a lot of people have rated this book highly, but I just can’t. It’s not a terrible book, but it’s certainly not good. Or rather, it is good in the way reading about Britney Spears’s meltdown is good, and it is good in the way listening to one of her pop songs is good. If you’re the kind of person who cringes when the song forcibly modulates up a step and back, and that’s the extent of its harmonic interest, you’ll hate this book. If you have no idea what I am talking about and love that kind of music, you may like this book. If you can’t help but notice bad writing and sentence fragments, this book will bother you. If you don’t care about stuff like that, and prefer sensationalism instead, if you just want to feel outraged and emotional and cry a bit at the unfairness of it all, this book might be for you.
...less

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Spudsie rated it:

07/26/08

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Spudsie by: 2008 SRL
recommends it for: Dog lovers, racing fans, anyone with a willingness to learn from a dog

You know how sometimes manufacturers will bundle two related products together to sell them? Like “buy this tube of toothpaste and get a free toothbrush” with the free toothbrush literally attached to the toothpaste? Well the publishers of this book need to team up with the manufacturer of Kleenex! This book should not be sold without at least a pocket-book sized bundle of Kleenex!

Enzo is amazing. He’s more insightful than most people I know and has more wisdom than a great many hu...more You know how sometimes manufacturers will bundle two related products together to sell them? Like “buy this tube of toothpaste and get a free toothbrush” with the free toothbrush literally attached to the toothpaste? Well the publishers of this book need to team up with the manufacturer of Kleenex! This book should not be sold without at least a pocket-book sized bundle of Kleenex!

Enzo is amazing. He’s more insightful than most people I know and has more wisdom than a great many human characters I’ve read about. If only he had thumbs or a shorter tongue. But alas, if that were the case we wouldn’t have this awesome book.

I love finding books that are this much fun to read AND teach me something in the process. I found myself dog-earing (pardon the expression) pages and underlining passages I loved. I seldom do this with fiction. I found myself wanting to share with others the wisdom of this dog.

“…I don’t understand why people insist on pitting the concepts of evolution and creating against each other. Why can’t they see that spiritualism and science are one? That bodies evolve and sols evolve and the universe is a fluid place that marries them both in a wonderful package called a human being. What’s wrong with that idea?” I LOVE this!! And wish members of the church I belong to could see things this way. (But they’d probably want to kick me out for even mentioning it. LOL!) Why can’t we see that blending is possible between the spiritual world and science? That they can be part of each other and are not at war? I mean really……if God created everything (and I personally believe He did) then that means He created science. So science is PART of His creation and is not inherently evil! Maybe it takes a mind as simple as a dog’s to show us how simple it really should be.

After reading the first chapter of “Racing” I had to set it aside. I wasn’t sure I was “up” to reading the book. A little over year ago we suddenly lost our 14 year old beagle mix named Lexus. And I’m still grieving the loss. I didn’t know if I could handle reading about the death of an almost human dog. But in the end the thing that made me cry the most was Denny’s introduction to his young fan in Italy. Thank goodness that was right at the end of the book—I had an impressive pile of tear-stained Kleenex on the floor by the time my emotions calmed down and felt so drained that I couldn’t read another word. I felt as though the entire book was preparing me for that meeting—and I still wasn’t emotionally ready for it.

That’s impressive writing.
...less

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Anita rated it:

07/08/08

Read in July, 2008

I was a little doubtful I would like this book when I first heard about it. (I mean it was a Starbucks book recommendation and so what kind of new age garbage would I be getting into?) But I need to read more fiction, and I heard from another source it was very good, so I bought it.

I was immediately sucked into the book and did not want to put it down. It has very short chapters so I kept saying, "Just one more," and then the book was over. But it is still in my thoughts, a really ...more I was a little doubtful I would like this book when I first heard about it. (I mean it was a Starbucks book recommendation and so what kind of new age garbage would I be getting into?) But I need to read more fiction, and I heard from another source it was very good, so I bought it.

I was immediately sucked into the book and did not want to put it down. It has very short chapters so I kept saying, "Just one more," and then the book was over. But it is still in my thoughts, a really good sign.

I think what held me was that the unique narrator of the book is a dog, Enzo. He thinks very philosophically (and humanly) about life because his master, Denny, talks to him like an equal. Denny is a semi-pro race car driver and they watch lots of racing videos together and Denny tells him about racing techniques required under difficult conditions on the track. Enzo, being the dog he is, applies these techniques to how to get through life's difficult conditions.

The book is told from Enzo's perspective on the eve of his death. He recounts his life, which is really his observation of Denny's life and the many hardships Denny, his wife Eve, and daughter Zoe have to live through as a humans. Enzo desperately wants to be human. And this brings humor to his philosophy. He saw on a documentary about Mongolia that if dogs are ready after they die, they come back as humans. Enzo does everything he can to be ready. He longs to experience life as a human. He desperately wants a pair of thumbs and a tongue that will allow speech!

If it were a movie, I would have to give it a pg 13 rating for some language and one adult situation. Thankfully the language is very limited and the adult situation is not terribly explicit. A great book about love, loyalty, and the importance of family. I felt a full range of emotions reading this book, another good sign.

The only real complaint I have about this book is the picture of a yellow lab or golden the publishers put on the cover. Enzo was a mixed breed with wirey terrier hair...a lab/airedale mix which produced a dog that was sold as a lab/poodle/shepherd mix. I kept fighting seeing Enzo as a fat lab or girlie golden. Both great dogs, but not Enzo....less

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Kristin rated it:

07/24/08

Read in May, 2008

***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***
Do not attempt to read this book without a box of tissue handy, and give yourself large blocks of time to read, for it is sooo difficult to put down once started. I LOVED this book!

The narrator of the story is a dog named Enzo who belongs to a man, Denny who drives race cars, and has a wife and daughter. They suffer a great tragedy. Enzo uses racing as a metaphor for life. He says, "We are all afforded our physical existence so ...more

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Frailty rated it:

08/01/08

"Case -in-Point #2: The Werewolf:
The full moon rises. The fog clings to the lowest branches of the spruce trees. The man steps out of the darkest corner of the forest and finds himself transformed into...
A monkey?
I think not."

"[...]that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves."

"Demon. Gremlin. Polterge...more

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Emilie rated it:

06/23/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: dog lovers, anyone looking for something a little different

What I loved:
1. Enzo is the coolest. dog. ever. And that includes my dog, who happens to be pretty hip. He's caring, he's funny. I love it.
2. The way Enzo narrates is awesome. I have a feeling that if dogs - smart dogs, who are about to come back as men - could talk, this is what they would sound like.
3. I plowed through this book because I was utterly unable to put it down. It isn't so much that I wanted to find out what happened next in the plot; I wanted to find out what Enzo had to s...more

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Liam rated it:

07/23/08

Read in July, 2008

I never thought I'd be so fascinated by reading a book where the narrator was a dog. This book literally had me laughing out loud at one moment, then crying the next. I always try to convince myself that I'm not too emotional of a person, but books like these always prove me wrong.

Here are my favorite passages/quotes from the book:

- pg43: "But my thoughts turned to what he had just taught me. Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creator...more

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Dara rated it:

06/29/08

Based on its title, this book may appear to be custom-built for auto racing fans. Not that the title is misleading – there is, in fact, some discussion of racing peppered throughout – but Garth Stein gives us so much more than a one-dimensional story! Like a wonderful, magical gift, where unwrapping one colorful layer leads to a layer of a different color, which leads to a layer with an intriguing design, and so on, The Art of Racing in the Rain takes us through tears, laughter, introspect...more

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Tara rated it:

06/07/08

bookshelves: loved-it

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: Everyone

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

It took me a total of 3 days to read this book and I am sad it's over. I absolutely loved it!

The Art of Racing in the Rain is about the relationship between the narrator, a mixed breed dog named Enzo, and his family: Denny, Eve and Zoe. At the beginning of the book, Enzo informs the reader that he is nearing the end of his life and he begins the tale of his life with Denny and the addition of Eve (the wife) and Zoe (the daughter).

Enzo watches as Denny falls in love with and builds a fu...more

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Frank rated it:

08/28/08

Read in August, 2008

I'll start by saying that I'm not much of a "dog person" and nor am I a race car fan. I've never been to Seattle, and the novel as fable genre has not done much for me. That being said, after "The Art of Racing in the Rain" - I need a new dog, I drive faster, and I loved this book.

I had stumbled across three reviews of this book within one 24 hour period, so I felt like I was being led to read this book that on the surface help only a small appeal - a story from a dog's p...more

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Jessica added it

08/12/08

recommended to Jessica by: The nice lady at B&N.
recommends it for: anyone who wants to laugh and cry and see the world like a dog

Please, disregard all negative reviews of this book.

I understand the people who have rated this book poorly, in some ways the book is a bit trite and the legal issues seem a bit overblown however I think those people are missing the point that the book is supposed to be written from the POV of the family dog who of course isn't going to know everything that goes on and Enzo freely admits that he is not privy to all the information. There are many things that occur in life that the dog doesn...more

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Lisa rated it:

07/04/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Lisa by: no one had to, it's narrarated by a dog and used racing as a met
recommends it for: anyone wanting to reclaim direction and a sense of purpose

this is positively one of the most masterfully simple yet profound novels i have read/heard in years. i listened to the audio version on the way back from my last trip to pittsburgh and, as another reviewer commented, it's a tear jerker. i boo hoo'ed quite a bit and then raced to the nearest borders to reread the parts of the story that moved me the most. this story is a fascinating study of the human condition as witnessed by enzo, the dog narrator. this will at once seize your emotions and ...more

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Jackie rated it:

05/12/08

bookshelves: 5-star, work-review-related-reading

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: just about anyone

This book is a heartbreaking, can't-put-it-down treasure. The story is told by the family dog, Enzo, who is highly evolved and intellectual and preparing to be a man in his next life (he saw a show on the Discovery channel that
explained that that is what will happen to dogs such as himself). He was picked out of a litter at 12 weeks old by semi-pro race car driver Denny and was there for Denny meeting and marrying Eve and a witness to the couple's
daughter Zoe's home birth. And, alas, he w...more

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Marie added it

05/21/08

bookshelves: holy-shit-this-got-published

recommends it for: dorky, dork headed, dork meisters

A). This book is written from the perspective of a dog.

B). The first line of this book is, "Enzo knew he was diferent from other dogs"

C). This book is written from the perspective of a dog.

D).Inside the book there are statements such as, "That which you maifest is before you." and "No race has ever been won in the first corner; many races have been lost there".

E). This book is written from the perspective of a dog.

F). Starbucks is heavily promoti...more

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teenlibsf rated it:

(review of isbn 0061537934)

02/06/08

Read in February, 2008

This quirky book, told from the perspective of a dog named Enzo who sees life through the metaphor of car racing, was by turns sweet and sad. OK, you have to suspend belief at times when Enzo talks about his desire to be a man in his next life and how he tries to subdue his doggyness to be more like a man. It is when Enzo succumbs to those instinct that the book really soars. Some of my favorite scenes have him acting like a dog... I don't want to say a lot about the book for those of you who ha...more

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Susan rated it:

07/02/08

bookshelves: animals

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: anyone

I just started this book 2 days ago... and it's one of the best I've read. I love the philosophical components that are provided by Enzo, the narrator (and a dog). His yearnings to be human, trying to learn more so he can start off ahead in his next incarnation (which he's sure will be as a man), where he will get his wish - opposable thumbs, and a facile tongue.

There are many lines in the book I love, resonate for me, and probably for a large number of people.

"That which we man...more

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Kathy rated it:

08/13/08

Read in August, 2008

The first several pages and the final pages were awesome. Enzo is about to die and he is reflecting on his life and the life of those humans whom he loves. These pages evoked a depth of emotions that I generally don't get from books, although there have been some. While Enzo does provide the reader with a philosophy of life, it is sometimes lost in the development of the humans' storyline. While the dog's perspective is creative and unique, the humans and their issues are predictable and avera...more