Dog World: And The Humans Who Live There [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Alfred Gingold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2005

In the fall of 2001, Alfred Gingold found himself succumbing to the undeniably endearing behavior of his family's new Norfolk terrier, George, and becoming a member of what he calls the Dog World: the 43 million dog owners and their 55 million dogs living in America today. In a matter of weeks, Gingold had become a firsthand ethnographer of the passions that define dog owners everywhere. Dog World is the result.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While a few canine appreciation books are eloquent enough (read: not sappy) to convert the uninitiated to the joys of doggie worship, most bark to the choir. But humor writer Gingold takes a different approach: a dog lover made rather than born, he's still puzzled by many aspects of the dog-owning subculture. "There's the widely held assumption that all dog people share the same threshold of disgustingness," he writes. "Many think nothing of gesticulating wildly with a hand that is holding a plastic bag of dogshit." While Gingold's Norfolk terrier, George, plays a prominent role in this amusing "chronology of dog ownership," the book reads more like an anthropological study of the bizarre behaviors of urban dog people, specifically those in and around Brooklyn's Prospect Park, "the seedbed of off-leash liberty." Gingold's relative newness to dog culture allows him a kind of wry objectivity; on picking up waste, for example, he notes that "expressing distaste during the act of retrieval is unsporting.... Your attitude should be one of mildly amused stoicism." When Gingold does succumb to the foolish behaviors that all pet owners invariably engage in at one time or another, he maintains an amused detachment. "Do dogs really offer 'unconditional love?' " he wonders. "I believe we should reserve judgment on that until dogs are able to fill their food bowls themselves."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

There are humans who do not own dogs, and then there are humans who are citizens of "Dog World." What happens when a member of the former group joins the latter group? Gingold, a humorist best known for his parody of the L. L. Bean catalog (Items from Our Catalogue, 1982), made this transition and not only lived to tell about it but totally succumbed to the wonders of dog ownership. Gingold did not succumb, however, to the point of failing to see the humor in the modern dog-human relationship, and his amused ramblings about the canine universe will entertain any dog lover. He discusses the proper etiquette for picking up after your dog ("your attitude should be one of mildly amused stoicism"), transmutations of your dog's name (the author's terrier George has 34 nicknames to date), the difference between a bite and a nip (your dog bites, my dog nips), and the Canine Good Citizen Test (George, remarkably, passed). This fun read will be sought out by readers who appreciate writing on the wry side. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786275499
• ISBN-13: 978-0786275496
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,509,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars diamond in the ruff ruff, March 23, 2005

By 

Christine Elia (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dog World: And the Humans Who Live There (Hardcover)

Alfred Gingold's book is a must read for anyone who has a dog, lives near a dog or encounters a dog from time to time. Dog World weighs the joys of owning a dog with the cold hard facts one never shares in polite company - ie, the bigger the dog, the bigger the pile. (The etiquette lesson on bags is worth it alone!) Gingold shares with the reader everything about life with a dog that he / she may have suspected or experienced and then, through what clearly was a copious amount of research, boils it down into amusing bits and helpful bits. It is a rare treat to read a book about a dog and his owner which is not the usual treacly fare. Instead, as a recent dog convert, Gingold answers all those questions that people have wondered (who are those people at the Westminster Dog Show wearing the camo-Dachsund sweatshirts?) Though set in NYC, the fact remains that dogs and their owners are the same everywhere, and Dog World is a fabulous and funny way to find out what they (dogs and their owners) actually do all day.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars George rex, February 20, 2005

By 

David Freeman (L.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dog World: And the Humans Who Live There (Hardcover)

Alfred Gingold's great gift -- on vivid display here -- is to find the exact mix of the serious and the funny. Dogs mean a lot to people and yet there's something goofy about otherwise rational adults devoting enormous amounts of time and energy to the welfare of their four-legged little friends. This book is an attempt to figure out just why that should be so, and also why the author is so thoroughly smitten with George, the Norfolk terrier he and his family live with. To read this book is to watch an inquiring mind try to figure out small questions that become larger existential ones -- and all with the humor he's well known for. I have the good luck to know the author and also the pleasure of knowing George. Anyone who reads this book will come to know them both and a good deal more -- about dogs and the world.
David Freeman

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a dog's life!, February 19, 2005

By 

Jennifer Scott - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dog World: And the Humans Who Live There (Hardcover)

Hair or fur? Lead or leash? Labrahuahua! - what and why? These are just some of the topics covered in this enchanting book, in which the author invites us to accompany him and his family in their big new adventure - becoming dog owners. With erudition, wit, good humor and affection, Alfred Gingold explores the hitherto unknown world of dogs and the people who own and love them.

This book will appeal to dog owners and non-owners alike. It is funny, knowledgable, occasionally controversial and a delight to browse through or devour at a single sitting. Having been a cat person all my life, I just might have to reconsider!