Our Best Friend
Mark Doty's Dog Years is a perceptive, beautifully written memoir about the author's two dogs that becomes a meditation on aging, loss, grief and recuperation. Any dog lover will experience shocks of recognition; Doty's book will also go a long way towards enlightening others as to why the dog is our "best friend." An American's relationship to animals is, to paraphrase the author, part of our secret history.