Lewin, noted for his pixilated parade of unlikely detectives (Family Business, 1995, etc.), forgoes mysteries for the picaresque meanderings and musings of Rover, the Independent Dog. In 37 brief confessions, Rover narrates his adventures on behalf of the canine nation against human oppressors. ``We're not insensate beings! What about some rights here!'' This creed issues from the doomed ``Philosopher'' who's incarcerated with Rover in the pound, and who eventually rescues Rover with advice about the value of temporary degradation—tail thumping, whining—as a tool to attract adoption. Rover is soon again on the road in pursuit of truth, justice, and satisfying dog business. Among his many rescues: a nearly drowned pup whom he drills in essentials—``when rain comes down pups go up!'' (to safe ground), and a canine female dying in a car with closed windows. Rover even rescues the traditionally detested cat, and sometimes a human. But revenge on people who kill or maim dogs is sweet—a jaw-clamp on a backside of a dog kicker comes as a glorious moment. Rover, despite his dogged heroism, also witnesses sad and hurtful canine deaths. Bull sessions are mustered among his fellow wayfarers, and some tricky maneuvers occur with packs: ``A pack with a crazy leader is dangerous.'' Met along the path: Lady, the student of human languages who misses some signals in a parking lot; a three-legged hustler; a dog actress; a female who confesses to previous lives; two ear-splitting carolers; and the great seeress to whom Rover goes for dream interpretation (she is, however, weary of ``primal yelps''). And then there's Love. Rover enjoys a powerful impact on eager females. Opines one, ``[You're] large and strong and roughly handsome . . . and [have] a scent with considerable gravitas.'' A must for the dog-mad, but these cute-free tales are witty and wry enough to reach others with cross-species wisdom.
Pub Date: March 17, 1998
ISBN: 0-312-18169-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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