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Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs
At the age of 36, Caroline Knapp, author of the acclaimed bestseller Drinking: A Love Story, found herself confronted with a monumental task: redefining her world.
She had faced the loss of both her parents, given up a twenty-year relationship with alcohol, and, as she writes, "I was wandering around in a haze of uncertainty, blinking up at the biggest questions: Who am I without parents and without alcohol? How to form attachments, and where to find comfort, in the face of such daunting vulnerability?" An answer materialized in the most unlikely form: that of a dog. Eighteen months to the day after she quit drinking, Knapp stumbled upon an eight-week-old puppy at a local animal shelter, took her home, and named her Lucille. Now two years old, Lucille has become a central force in Knapp's life: "In her," she writes, "I have found solace, joy, a bridge to the world."
Caroline Knapp has been celebrated as much for her fresh insight into emotional and psychological issues as she has been for her gifts as a writer. In Pack of Two, she brings the same perception and talent to bear on the rich, complicated terrain of human-animal relationships. In addition to mining her own experience with Lucille, Knapp speaks to a wide variety of dog people--from animal behaviorists and psychologists to other owners whose dogs have deeply affected their lives--about this emotionally complex, sometimes daunting, often profoundly healing alliance. Throughout, she explores the shift in canine roles from working partners to intimate companions and looks, too, at how this new kinship, this wordless bond, becomes a template for what we most desire ourselves.
She had faced the loss of both her parents, given up a twenty-year relationship with alcohol, and, as she writes, "I was wandering around in a haze of uncertainty, blinking up at the biggest questions: Who am I without parents and without alcohol? How to form attachments, and where to find comfort, in the face of such daunting vulnerability?" An answer materialized in the most unlikely form: that of a dog. Eighteen months to the day after she quit drinking, Knapp stumbled upon an eight-week-old puppy at a local animal shelter, took her home, and named her Lucille. Now two years old, Lucille has become a central force in Knapp's life: "In her," she writes, "I have found solace, joy, a bridge to the world."
Caroline Knapp has been celebrated as much for her fresh insight into emotional and psychological issues as she has been for her gifts as a writer. In Pack of Two, she brings the same perception and talent to bear on the rich, complicated terrain of human-animal relationships. In addition to mining her own experience with Lucille, Knapp speaks to a wide variety of dog people--from animal behaviorists and psychologists to other owners whose dogs have deeply affected their lives--about this emotionally complex, sometimes daunting, often profoundly healing alliance. Throughout, she explores the shift in canine roles from working partners to intimate companions and looks, too, at how this new kinship, this wordless bond, becomes a template for what we most desire ourselves.
273 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Caroline Knapp
17 books264 followersCaroline Knapp was an American writer and columnist whose candid best-selling memoir Drinking: A Love Story recounted her 20-year battle with alcoholism.
From 1988-95, she was a columnist for the Boston Phoenix, where her column "Out There" often featured the fictional "Alice K." In 1994, those columns were collected in her first book, Alice K's Guide to Life: One Woman's Quest for Survival, Sanity, and the Perfect New Shoes.
Knapp won wide acclaim for Drinking: A Love Story (1996), which described her life as a "high-functioning alcoholic" and remained on the New York Times best-seller list for several weeks. She followed Drinking with Pack of Two, also a best-seller, which recounted her relationship with her dog Lucille and humans' relationships with dogs in general.
(from Wikipedia)
From 1988-95, she was a columnist for the Boston Phoenix, where her column "Out There" often featured the fictional "Alice K." In 1994, those columns were collected in her first book, Alice K's Guide to Life: One Woman's Quest for Survival, Sanity, and the Perfect New Shoes.
Knapp won wide acclaim for Drinking: A Love Story (1996), which described her life as a "high-functioning alcoholic" and remained on the New York Times best-seller list for several weeks. She followed Drinking with Pack of Two, also a best-seller, which recounted her relationship with her dog Lucille and humans' relationships with dogs in general.
(from Wikipedia)
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February 13, 2013
[Spanish] Novela/Experiencias/Reflexiones, son las tres palabras con las que puedo resumir este gran (y tan recomendado) libro, aunque abiertamente puedo decir que al final me quedé con esa sensación de carencia.
Tiendo a, malamente, tener expectativas superiores a las que normalmente debería, pero esto radica en que no hubo una diferencia abismal entre mis anteriores lecturas e investigaciones con lo que escribe Caroline Knapp. Es un libro sincero, sobre la vida de la autora, su transformación AA a una vida sobria gracias a la singular (y tema principal) compañía de su adorada Lucille y sus diferentes etapas y cuestionamientos en su entorno. (Punto a favor a la historia: Lucille fue adoptada).
Caroline toca diversos temas como la convivencia cotidiana, el amor y cuidados desmedidos, dueños (a mi me gusta decir mejor “Guardianes”) irresponsables o perros como parte de una familia pero, mi favorito llegó al final del libro: “Perros de Terapia” que cerró el libro cuál lo empezó, con un problema-solución.
Es un excelente libro para aquellos que buscan saber un poco más de los beneficios que nos da un animal de compañía, de cuestionamientos sobre las líneas delgadas de obediencia, respeto y libertinaje animal, la equidad entre razas y el amor duradero de los canes al ser humano.
Tiendo a, malamente, tener expectativas superiores a las que normalmente debería, pero esto radica en que no hubo una diferencia abismal entre mis anteriores lecturas e investigaciones con lo que escribe Caroline Knapp. Es un libro sincero, sobre la vida de la autora, su transformación AA a una vida sobria gracias a la singular (y tema principal) compañía de su adorada Lucille y sus diferentes etapas y cuestionamientos en su entorno. (Punto a favor a la historia: Lucille fue adoptada).
Caroline toca diversos temas como la convivencia cotidiana, el amor y cuidados desmedidos, dueños (a mi me gusta decir mejor “Guardianes”) irresponsables o perros como parte de una familia pero, mi favorito llegó al final del libro: “Perros de Terapia” que cerró el libro cuál lo empezó, con un problema-solución.
Es un excelente libro para aquellos que buscan saber un poco más de los beneficios que nos da un animal de compañía, de cuestionamientos sobre las líneas delgadas de obediencia, respeto y libertinaje animal, la equidad entre razas y el amor duradero de los canes al ser humano.
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