A Three Dog Life

This book is like having a cup of tea on a cold afternoon or relaxing under warm blankets or cuddling with an animal if that's your thing. I like this lady--I could imagine sitting down with her and having a nice conversation. Her dogs bring her comfort but they have a secondary role in this book. If you want inspirational animal stories, read James Herriott or the Chicken Soup for the Soul books about dogs or cats. The main theme of this book is Abigail Thomas' husband's brain injury. I was really concerned that I would find her interactions with her husband to be depressing. So I was pleasantly surprised. This man, although he has no short term memory, has quite an impressive vocabulary and can come out with the most amazing statements. He also has a kind of clairvoyance that is miraculous. The author will find herself thinking about something and the next thing she knows, her husband is speaking on that topic. He can also be kind and loving, although at times his injury can cause him to be paranoid and angry.Aside from the interactions between the author and her husband, I also found her comments on her new life alone (her husband is institutionalized) to be illuminating. She actually enjoys her life of solitude. As a widow, I can identify. She is relishing her independence. I loved one comment she makes about not wanting another partner--that a new love relationship always involves talking about one's past. At this point in her life she wants to dwell on the present only. I had a light bulb moment after I had fallen one day and when I picked up this book, I happened to be at the part where she writes about the many falls she has recently experienced. She is 63 and I am 68. Perhaps senior ladies will particularly identify with Abigail Thomas' concerns. The changing neighborhood--more large buildings, fewer small businesses. The feeling that one's moorings are coming loose.The only thing I would wish for the author is faith which she doesn't seem to have. Her book ends rather abruptly. I'll admit that the fast conclusion ending with an interaction between her and her husband didn't disappoint me as much as I'd been led to expect it would. I've already read the sequel to this book. But now I may go back and skim over it. This woman is very comfortable in her own skin and she made me feel at home. She doesn't pontificate. She's just herself. I enjoyed her rather casual style. It was easy reading. My only complaints would be that occasionally she'd write about topics that didn't interest me too much--all the art she was purchasing--, and I don't want to hear about household items or handbag fillers. This sort of thing is a bit tedious for me. I have learned to love animal stories so I would have rather heard more about the animals in her life rather than the minutia in her life. But, all in all, a pleasant read and I think I might read this again someday.

I purchased this book expecting it to be about a woman and how much her dogs helped her through a very rough time. What were in the pages of this book were much, much more. The author mentions several times how her dogs helped her through the tragedy of her husband being hit by a vehicle and his stay in a hospital. She goes deep into her feelings with honesty. When I finished this book I was left happy that I read it but a little numb. Her life was soul changing and she leaves the reader with a little change as well.

Abigail Thomas’ writing tone, syntax, style... I love ALL OF IT! This book Was/is completely .... D E L I G H T F U L and INSPIRING! While her memoir, “A Three Dog Life” tells a story of horrific tragedy and resulting challenges, she shares her soul to the reader with bare to the bones human emotion, dialog and reflection and so much more! One chapter in and I was instantly a fan! I have flashed back to my early writing days and I’m bubbling with enthusiasm to read everything she has written! I’m THRILLED to have discovered this author! I’ve now finished a second book, “An Actual Life” and ordered more! I have read many of the reviews here, and realize that y’all may not feel quite as enthralled about her work as I am... but que sera, sera.... If you read a sample and it doesn’t resonate, don’t buy it! If you LOVE the written word, and honest self expression that READS like thoughts (complete with tangents and often imperfect sentence structure), THIS author will give your heart a squeeze and your mind ... epiphanies!! I think if I could have a cuppa tea with this woman, I’d feel like I’d known her my whole life! Just finished reading my first Abigail Thomas book, “A Three Dog Life - a Memoir"Her words were, at nearly ALL times, either profoundly touching, sad, funny or thought provoking. The story is not straight forward linear, but reads... a bit like a loose-leaf diary that slipped to the floor and was picked up and re-booked without strict adherence to page numbers! But I found it... Oh! So. Delightful! I'll be reading more!I went to Amazon to buy another book and read some of the reviews. She's not everyone's cuppa tea! But, then, to each their own! Because I couldn't choose which of her books I wanted to read next, I googled her name and found alot of information and some YouTube videos. AND a page of quotes.I can't eat gluten without severe consequences and I've been eating a MINDFUL (but half-a$$ed Keto) low carb DIE-T since January. I miss chocolate, ALOT! ...this post gave me a giggle. Are you a one, two or whole box chocoholic?! Sharing.“A couple of years ago my sister Judy and I were each given a box of truffles. The tiny print said two pieces contained 310 calories and there were six pieces in each box. We were sitting on the bus headed downtown, quietly doing our calculations: Judy was dividing by two and I was multiplying by three. When she realized what I was doing, a look came over her face that is hard to describe. 'I lost all hope for you' she says now.”― Abigail Thomas, Thinking About Memoirand...because I've had a similar discussion with family members about memories and perspective:“SIX MONTHS AGO A FRIEND WAS ANGRY WITH ME and I with her. I had written about something someone said many years ago, but it was she who heard the words, not me, a fact I had completely forgotten. Her experience was precious, and she accused me of stealing her memory. Not only that, but what she remembered with grief I had somehow transmuted to gratitude, so besides stealing her memory, I also got it wrong. We argued, but there was no meeting place. For days the same questions went through my head. Is memory property? If two people remember something differently is one of them wrong? Wasn’t my memory of a memory also real? There were no solid answers, just winding paths I went round and round on. I thought of nothing else; a chasm had opened between me and my friend.”― Abigail Thomas, A Three Dog Life: A Memoir

Maybe I'm not high enough on the intellectual spectrum but I did not care for this book, I couldn't wait for it to end. It was very depressing and most of the time, I felt like I was reading a stream-of-consciousness journal written by a woman ready to throw in the towel. She spends the majority of the book talking about how her life isn't the same without her husband but offers the reader no glimmer of hope for her own life in the wake of his tragedy. She laments the contents of her refrigerator (or lack thereof) as much if not more so than the loss of her marriage. She spends so much time rambling on about what bad shape her husband is in but doesn't give us any idea of how she's actually coping with it or trying to overcome the sadness - other than telling us she's drinking & smoking too much. I didn't find this inspiring or creative at all. I also found the random babbling of her husband to be plain confusing, even though I really wanted to take away so much more from what he had to say. It was really just a bunch of jibberish from someone with a brain injury - nothing earth-shattering! The title is misleading too, the dogs are really only mentioned as background noise..she snuggles with them in bed, that's really all you need to know. I don't plan to read her next book either.

An amazing book, very beautifully and sparely written, without any self-pity or emotional overkill. It's full of insights and it made my heart break. I just can't believe some of the American Amazon reviews, which criticised it for not being about dogs, and other inanities.

for the wife.

Intimate, moving, funny, unsentimental, and remarkably honest and self aware memoir. Wonderful.

A great read

This book is so well-written, and it literally makes you laugh, and cry! It makes us see the poetry in all the difficult journeys these people are living through! Ofcourse, the details of the dogs' antics, to me,as a life-long dog lover, makes it all the more enjoyable! Sorry to sound cliche', but the narrator shows the strengths, and weaknesses of the human,(maybe more female)spirit, in such a warm, and personal way. She is so very brave! I actually ordered another one of her books, since I enjoyed the author's work so much!