The Art of Racing in the Rain

by Garth Stein

I learned that from a program on the National Geographic Channel, so I believe it is true. Not all dogs return as men, they say; only those who are ready.

The first idea for this book came to me when I saw a docu-drama made in Mongolia about this concept: that the next incarnation for their dogs will be as people. However, I did not see this documentary on the National Geographic channel. At the time, I was making documentary films and a friend of mine gave me a Mongolian film called, "State of Dogs." It's a challenging film for a number of reasons, but it did inspire me to explore the idea of transmogrification and dog souls. The insightful, humorous tone of Enzo, came not from that film, but from a Billy Collins poem called The Revenant. I encourage you to seek it out on the Internet.