The Art of Racing in the Rain in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Sep 09, 2014 Krissy rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, read-before-2015, cover-color-blue, pgs-300-399, book2film

Honestly I didn't think I'd care for this book before I even started it. A book that is written in the first person POV from a dog's perspective? No thanks. BUT I stand corrected. I actually really enjoyed it. I loved Enzo and Denny. I was quickly drawn into their little lives and had a difficult time putting the book down. I felt so horrible for all that Denny had to go through and I'm glad Enzo was there for him. Of course the end had me getting choked up but I was able to contain my tears. Bu ...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Dana rated it liked it

Shelves: listened-to, moms-club-book-club

I would always see good reviews for this book, would look at the synopsis, then be reminded: "oh, this is the one where the dog is the narrator," and then I'd move on. But when my city chose it for its annual event Long Beach Reads One Book, my book club decided to read it. It turns out it's not totally a dog book, it's about a very human story. It tells a compelling story of Enzo's (the dog's) owner/master Denny, his marriage, loss, custody battle, and race car driving career that I did get suc ...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Graceann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: animals, general-fiction, banned-by-idiots

Everyone should have a dog like Enzo. When I started reading this, and there were frequent references to auto racing, I thought "I'm going to get bored with that." By the time I got to the end, I wanted to rent the documentary "Senna" to find out more about what gives Enzo his passion.

This is a cleverly conceived, warm and frequently humorous take on what life as a dog would be like. Enzo has his favorite television programs, his own fears, and his own way of making himself understood when impo ...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Kristin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

While some of the content of 'The Art of Racing In The Rain' was unexpected and hit me at the wrong time personally, I thought this was an excellent book and well worth the temporary emotional hit I took. My coworker read this before me and clued me into the gist of the book, that it was narrated by the dog on the cover and that the dog dies. But as I later found out, you know the dog is going to die in the first chapter and the book is his reflections on life and all that he's seen, as he ponde While some of the content of 'The Art of Racing In The Rain' was unexpected and hit me at the wrong time personally, I thought this was an excellent book and well worth the temporary emotional hit I took. My coworker read this before me and clued me into the gist of the book, that it was narrated by the dog on the cover and that the dog dies. But as I later found out, you know the dog is going to die in the first chapter and the book is his reflections on life and all that he's seen, as he ponders what will happen once he is no longer a dog.
Along with the dog, Enzo, the main character is Denny, a race car driver who is trying to balance his career potential with family issues, and when those issues keep him from the racing for a spell, he and Enzo together watch many of his races, taped from the in-car camera. Where Denny's talent shines the brightest is the races in the rain, and while he might not realize it, Denny's off-hand comments to Enzo were understood by the dog, and Enzo makes it evident that he is Denny's biggest fan, though he can't articulate his tongue to tell him so, nor does he have thumbs to enable him to write it out. Those lessons on the art of racing in the rain not only form the book's title, but also Enzo's way of looking at all of the events the two of them have seen together.
As a fan of auto racing, many of the driver names were familiar to me as were the circuits on which Denny raced, but because American racing is so NASCAR-centric, and NASCAR stops when rain starts, I have a feeling many readers of the book may not understand Denny's observations. By focusing on the kind of racing that doesn't get top billing here in the U.S., even though Denny's experiences most often occur on real tracks in America, Stein has also provided the opportunity for the sport to gain more fans who probably would have never given a book on sports car road racing a second look.
I loved Enzo, even though I knew that there could never be a sequel due to Enzo's circumstances at the beginning fo the book, but because of that, I particularly looked for a completeness in the book, which I found in the end. Certain things that Enzo mentions early on come back towards the end, and while they made sense the first time, they are even more fitting later on. ...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Larissa rated it liked it

Heard good things about this book and I am a dog lover (book is from dogs perspective) so thought it would be entertaining. I did enjoy the story but it was a bit slow going at first even with all the drama, but got better in the second half. Not in my top reads, but a fast, entertaining book with happy ending!

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Dec 03, 2012 DJ rated it really liked it

I would've given this book 3.5 stars if I could. I wanted it to be a real tearjerker--and it just wasn't. It was a pod story, and had the potential to be a tearjerker, but just didn't get there. I enjoyed it, but didn't LOVE it, like I LOVED One Good Dog. ...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Cari rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-read

Recommended by good friends, this book was not one I would have thought I would like. Narrated by a dog (yes, you read that right), it tells the story of a small family - a father and husband who is a race car driver, his wife and there young daughter. Enzo - dog and storyteller and philosopher and hero - "speaks" with such simple love and honesty, I totally fell in love with him...and I'm not a dog-person, or even a pet person. I think some might find this story a bit sappy, but I found Stein's ...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Angela rated it it was amazing

reaches deep and grasps your soul.

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Dec 29, 2010 Beth Given marked it as shelved

I got most of the way through this but just couldn't, in good conscience, finish it. There was just SO much swearing (including countless instances of the f-bomb), plus some sexuality that, while not passionate (this is from a dog's point of view, after all), didn't make up for any small nuggets of wisdom I might have unearthed in finishing the last quarter of the book. ...more

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