Customer Reviews

The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You know what to expect from a Dave Barry book, and he doesn't disappoint us here.

This humorous Christmas tale is told by a young boy living in the 1960s in a New York City suburb. "Doug Barnes" gets sidetracked in the telling, as adolescent boys often do, but eventually we realize that the story is really about Christmas Eve, church Christmas pageants in general, and one "magical" one in particular. Barry is quick to point out that any resemblance of this story's characters to people in his true hometown is "frankly, a bewildering coincidence." But parts of this adventure just HAVE to be based on past experience. You can't make up stuff like this.

Easy to polish off in less than an hour, this book may well be appropriate to read aloud when the family is gathered 'round the eggnog on Christmas Eve. It's sure to dredge up memories of Christmas pageants of the past.

As a matter of fact: I hadn't given it a thought in many years, but Barry's story prompted me to remember the only Christmas pageant *I* was ever forced to take part in. Guess I wasn't much older than "Doug Barnes," and it was a Christmas in the late '60s or early '70s. Snowflakes were falling over our part of southeastern Pennsylvania. They were light enough that the Lutheran church service wasn't cancelled, but they were heavy enough to keep many people at home that night -- including the girl who was supposed to play the part of Mary. Suddenly I was promoted from second angel to one of the most visible roles in church history. I shuffled down the aisle, trying not to trip over the hastily-hemmed skirt that threatened to poke pinholes into my bare legs. Next to me marched a much older and larger boy whom I barely knew and had never had occasion to speak to. And we were supposed to be Mary and Joseph? Puh-leeze. Thank goodness not many people witnessed that scene! My only regret is that the church bulletin didn't credit me for my stand-in performance. Alas, we had no bats in the belfry, Brenda Lee songs, or dogs named Frank and Walter to make things more interesting.

Thanks, Dave, for the trip down Memory Lane...

Dave Barry is a very funny man. I expected lots of laughs from his new book. I got a few, mostly juvenile chuckles. This is a walk down memory lane. For those of us who were kids in 1960 we remember those simpler times. If you were ever in a Christmas play you'll flash back like crazy as Dave turns a Nativity scene into a farce. The illustrations are wonderful. It's tender, it's schmaltzy, it's a lost part of America. Dog lovers will love it but there's a price to be paid for their enjoyment. Read it and weep and smile and giggle and most of all, remember.

I received this book as a Christmas gift this year and, since I had never heard of this author before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But after having read it, I have to say that this is probably one of the best books I've ever read!!! It made me smile, laugh, and cry - a major feat considering that it's only 120 "short" pages in length...

"The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog" is written from the viewpoint of a young boy (Douglas) who is growing up in New York in the 1960's. He shares several funny, heartwarming stories about his family & friends, including the family dog Frank (I know Frank is not the dogs name in the title, but you'll find out why when you read it). The last (and longest) of these stories is about one fateful Christmas eve when, after everything that could go wrong did, he & his family (and pretty much the whole town) got to experience a beautiful Christmas miracle.

As I write this review, I'm purposefully trying not to share too much about this story, as I don't want to give anything away. It's one of those books where I think you really need to experience everything first-hand to get the most enjoyment.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to everyone! It's a beautiful, funny, heartfelt, and easy read - a diamond in the ruff! But be sure to have some tissues handy...

I've long been a fan of Dave Barry. His newspaper columns, his books on subjects as varied as Japan and being a guy, and in recent years, his fiction, have never failed to elicit a smile from me. He's truly one of the funniest writers in America.

This is a brief tale about a young boy in the 60s, Doug Barnes, who gets recruited to play a shepherd in his church's annual Christmas Eve pageant. Doug is struggling with a lot of childhood issues - friends who get him into trouble, having a crush on the girl playing Mary, and a faithful old dog who may be on his last legs.

Barry is definitely going for a "Jean Shepherd" feel with this book. Several parts of it would have felt right at home in Shepherd's "A Christmas Story," from his tangential descriptions of life in the town of Asquont to his depiction of the Christmas dreams of a child. It's a good book, but not a great one. At times it feels perhaps a bit too devoted to Shepherd, without having enough of Barry's unique voice. There are positive points as well, though - the story is a strong one, and Barry doesn't flinch from depicting the trauma of losing a beloved pet, and while the resolution of that plotline borders on the saccharine, he manages to keep from tipping over the edge.

Barry has also grown a good bit as a novelist since his earlier books. Several sections of that first novel, Big Trouble, felt like rants from a column transposed into a character's inner narrative. Barry has escaped that trap and is writing less like a columnist and more like a novelist, which is a definite plus. I did like this book, but I don't know that it will ever become a classic. On the other hand, it's enough fun for a true Barry fan, or anyone looking for a new Christmas tale to taste this year.

I'm a longtime fan of Dave Barry, and although I can't claim to understand all of the Baby Boomer cultural references (I'm a Generation Xer myself), "The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog" was a quick, enjoyable read that put me in the holiday spirit.

However, this semi-autobiographical tale smacked of other, earlier Christmas-gone-wacky classics such as Jean Sheppard's "A Christmas Story," "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and Barbara Robinson's "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." And half of this *very* slim offering (Christmas lite??) is taken up by vintage photos.

Older children will likely get a laugh out of the irreverent humor (leave it to Barry to work in scatological references to bat guano in a Christmas story), Doug's crush on a classmate, and familiar love story of a boy and his dog. There are laugh-out-loud moments to be found here, but Barry banks more on the nostalgia factor of a bygone era and familiar set pieces (the charming alternative lyrics to "We Three Kings" involving a rubber cigar) to create a "Christmas Story" mood of a dysfunctional suburban Christmas.

For us grownups, this is a pleasant jaunt down memory lane that's sure to delight Dave Barry fans and any of us who need a little Christmas spirit to brighten our day. Happy Holidays!

Dave Barry's THE SHEPHERD, THE ANGEL, AND WALTER THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE DOG is just about Dave Barry at his best. This is a romp through a humorous world of public-school Christmas pageantry, pubescent crushes and the inability of any boy caught in such straits to say anything more intelligent than "Urg" to any girl, and the coming of a Christmas puppy who, with the help of a lot of accumulated bat dung, brings down the church ceiling!

One episode does strike me as sad, for the appearance of Walter is occasioned by the death of Frank, but Frank goes to join Jesus in more ways than one, and his tale is one of a more subdued joy, but of joy nonetheless.

Except, perhaps, for the quiet, almost meditative humor, of Frank's story, the book is a non-stop rollicking adventure. It is a mere 117 pages long, and that includes wide-spaced lines of text as well as quite a few nostalgic illustrations along the way. In other words, one can probably read it from cover to cover in one sitting--unless one takes far too much time guffawing and twittering over the rambunctious humor and interrupting everyone else in the household by reading passages aloud to them and then bursting out in helpless mirth all over again. That will increase the reading time.

This small book is, I feel, the perfect gift for everyone heading into the holiday season. Actually, the marvelous humor in it can be enjoyed year round, but since its thematic elements do deal with the Yuletide, it is probably best enjoyed in a November-December time frame when external festivities lend extra emphasis to the episodes. This is truly a light-weight, laugh-out-loud, feel-good distraction from whatever cares and woes may otherwise beset the reader, and it will take very little time out of one's life to boot. The light-hearted humor will be enjoyed by readers from pre-teens to centenarians, even those of us who are nearer the latter extreme and are becoming more exacting as to how we expend the time remaining to us. In fact, the book was so much fun that I believe I'll read it again!

This is a romp back to many of our childhood days and those awkward days of discovering girls and pageants at church, etc.

Let's not spoil it for those who haven't read it yet. Just to say that this is a nostalgic trip back to days where adults smoked and didn't know all the harmful things they were doing to their lungs. When prior to asking a girl to dance one of your friends asked one of the girls if your friend asked their friend to dance, would she? Boy, memories, uh? It's about Gary U.S. Bonds and Brenda Lee starring at the pageant?

Also, about a family's dog and its wearing out at the wrong time, around bats. But the end is the thing. You've got to read, you'll enjoy.

I laughed, I cried, I think I soiled myself.

Sit back in your favorite easy chair, put on a Bing Crosby Christmas album, and curl up with this timeless classic, oh and don't forget the icy cold 40-ouncer, you'll need it.
Dave hasn't lost too many brain cells to keep him from churning out yet another example of what we have come to expect from a genuine master of his "craft". His particular craft being almost entirely composed of beer guzzling followed by short stints of "creative" writing....... And when I say "creative", I mean either one or both of his eyes were shut.
Yet, with one eye tied behind his back, and Jimmy Buffet tunes constantly meandering in his brain, Mr. Barry(as his friend calls him) manages to turn out a piece of work............... that we would all be proud to diplay right up there on our library shelves with the likes of Hemingway, Salinger, and Melville.
Say what you will about Dave's parentage but, dang, THAT BOY IS FUNNY!!!
Any complaints about my exhaustively researched review can be directed towards my attorneys: Hemingway, Salinger, and Melville

This book made me laugh out loud! That wouldn't have been such a big deal, but the book made me laugh out loud when I was in a shopping mall food court, reading at a table all by myself, and I attracted more than my fair share of attention when I started laughing so hard that I nearly slid out of my seat! When you're with a group of people and you start laughing that hard, people assume you're just having fun with friends. When you're by yourself, reading a book, and you laugh that hard, people seem to assume that you are mentally unbalanced. Luckily, that doesn't bother me, especially when it comes to reading Dave Barry! I have always loved his nonfiction books and his newspaper columns, but have generally been less impressed with his attempts at fiction. However, this book converted me to Barry fiction, and I only hope he'll come out with more books like this in the future.

Reading this book reminded me of sitting around a holiday table with friends and family (after the meal is over) and listening to someone tell a really sweet, funny story.

Now, I'm waiting for the movie.