Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had [Hardcover]

Rick Bass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2000

Colter was the runt of the litter, and Rick Bass took him only because nobody else would. Soon, though, Bass realized he had a raging genius on his hands, and he raided his daughters' college fund to send Colter to the best schools. Colter could be a champion, Rick was told, but he'd have to be broken, slowed down. Rick "could no more imagine a slowing-down Colter than a slow-motion bolt of lightning in the sky," and instead of breaking Colter he followed him. Colter led him into new territory, an unexplored land where he felt more alive, more intimately connected to the world, than he'd ever been before. In the course of telling us Colter's story, Rick Bass also tells us of his childhood fascination with snapping turtles and dirt, and of the other animals - including people - that have shaped his life. COLTER is an interspecies love story that vividly captures the relationship between humans and dogs. Like all of Bass's work, it is passionate, poetic, and original.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"How we fall into grace. You can't work or earn your way into it. You just fall. It lies below, it lies beyond. It comes to you, unbidden," writes novelist and essayist Bass (Where the Sea Used to Be, etc.) of the arrival of his "goofy little knot-headed" genius of a pointing dog. As they roam the remote western Montana valley where Bass lives, and hunt the golden autumn plains in the eastern part of the state, Colter unfailingly ushers Bass into "an unexplored land" where the two become "as alive as we have ever been: our senses so sharp and whittled alive that we could barely stand it." Their prolonged hours of "wanting only one thing, a bird, wanting it so effortlessly and purely that [we] come the closest [we] will ever come to a shared language" are a blessing. But always, for Bass, there is the undertow of paradox: of living for the hunt but being a comically rotten marksman; of being a hunter yet an environmentalist; of his tendency to love with "a passion so intense it borders on gluttony," inevitably followed by the crushing numbness that marks the loss of what he loves. Bass's exhaustless appetite for natural beauty and his propensity for "bragging on" his dog occasionally lead to exuberant repetition ("It was just so damn great to be out in such open country with my dogs"), but more often result in luminously transcendent passages on the education and sorrowful loss of a brilliant and mischievous chocolate brown pointer that will transfix anyone who has ever loved a dog. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This delightful book is really a love story about the special bond and level of understanding that can exist between a man and his dog. It is also a story that celebrates nature, describing life in the Montana woods and the thrill of hunting in the never-ending fields at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. In his latest book, nature writer Bass (The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness) tells the story of life with a very special hunting dog. Colter is the runt of the litter, and Bass ends up buying the pup because no one else wants him. But as he grows, Colter's instinct takes over, and his passion for hunting is unequalled. The dog's abilities are so outstanding that Bass, admittedly a poor shot, feels guilty when he misses a bird because he feels that he is letting his dog down. His enthusiasm is contagious and somewhat amusing: Bass loves to hunt, but does not particularly care whether he shoots anything; it is the thrill of watching his dog work that he finds exciting. Recommended for public libraries.
-DDeborah Emerson, Monroe Community Coll., Rochester, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (June 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395926181
• ISBN-13: 978-0395926185
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colter: The Best Dog Book I've Ever Read, May 23, 2000

By 

Sanuk (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had (Hardcover)

This is a book about bird hunting and the author's partnership with a very special pointing dog. Being a non-hunter detracted not one bit from my appeciation of this exploration of the depths of the human-canine relationship. In fact, I have never encountered it done with such empathic insight. Rick Bass writes about emotions; his deep feelings for all living things, from turtles to ecosystems. But the focus is upon his intense love of dogs and of the intimate partnering with a dog that draws him to bird hunting. He confesses ambivalence about shooting birds, and does so mainly to reward Colter. He does quite a credible job of conveying to the reader the dog's side of the experience as well. If you love dogs of any breed, this is a "must read".

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dog-lover's dream!, May 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had (Hardcover)

I love this book! I think that anyone who loves dogs as much as I do will appreciate the sentiments of Rick Bass when he describes his beloved hunting dog, Colter. Although I have never owned a hunting dog, the pure and simple emotion evident in this book is somehow heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Great for dog lovers, hunters, and nature lovers.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book! I laughed, I cried... you get the picture, July 7, 2000

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had (Hardcover)

For anyone who has ever truly loved a dog (if you have, you know what I'm talking about), this is a must read. If you're a bird hunter, this book has special significance. But even if your not, there's much here for you. Rick Bass is uniquely open with his feelings for a goofy German Shorthaired Pointer (aren't they all goofy?) named Colter. As anyone who has ever and loved a great dog knows, these types of animals are not perfect. In fact, their greatness comes from that lack of perfection -- their unique personlities that sometimes make you just grin and shake your head. Colter is just that kind of a dog and the way Rick Bass tells his story (and the story of their time together) is quite touching and even hillariously funny at times.