Customer Reviews

The Wolf in the Parlor: The Eternal Connection between Humans and Dogs

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a librarian, I read tons of books; however, most of them tend to be either related to music, my specialty, or science fiction. I picked this up on a whim, because I love dogs and the author seems to have a fine pedigree (no pun intended!). After reading this, I am so thankful that I decided to go outside of my normal reading!

Jon Franklin, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning science writer, does an amazing job of exploring why humans and dogs have such an intense bond. Franklin takes us along on his personal journey as he changes from a man that doesn't particularly care about dogs to one where Charlie, his poodle, becomes an integral part of his life (thanks in large part to his wife). As time flows by and Charlie worms his way into the author's heart, Franklin, the ever curious science writer, tries to figure out exactly why humans and dogs seem to complete each other.

What impressed me most about this book was the author's ability to deftly intertwine his own personal narrative, along with both scientific research and his own theories. He adds just enough of a personal voice that one doesn't feel like they are reading a text book, but it doesn't devolve into a rambling diary. Franklin does an excellent job of explaining advanced scientific concepts and ideas, although he does assume that the reader has about a high school level knowledge of science.

I highly recommend this book to any dog people as it will definitely make them think a little (and hopefully appreciate even more) their relationship with man's (and woman's) best friend. Cat people, you should also pick this one up too and see how the other half of the world lives. To people who don't like any animals, read this and you might find yourself wanting to see what life would be like with your very own "Wolf in the Parlor."

This book was a disappointment. I knew enough about the theme - the symbiotic relationship between people and dogs - to know that a very interesting and enlightening book could be written on the subject. In this one I was expecting a fairly thorough review and presentation of the scientific evidence and theories on the subject, but that is not what I found.

If you are looking for nonfiction in the sense of a sober presentation and assessment of what scientific evidence there is on the subject, you will find informative writing of that sort only in relatively small snatches scattered here and there in the book. If you are looking for a personal story of the author's experience with his dog or other dogs, you will find writing of that sort only in relatively small snatches here and there. What the majority of the book consists of is the author's philosophical musings, and stories about his efforts to learn more about the origin of dogs.

An example of the "how I found it" material:
"Eventually I found an outfit at the University of Michigan that was pioneering the on-demand reproduction of rare books. I called them. We haggled, and I sent them a check. In due time my mailbox yielded up a very thin little volume of copied and bound pages. Olsen's book. Finally! I tore open the package like it was a Christmas present. It was just what I'd wanted; the book was packed full of detail."

If you want to read this sort of personal-quest narrative, you will not be disappointed by the book.

An example of the "philosophical musing" material, this one about how ancient humans invented religion:
"The knowledge of death was depressing. Depression made us less able to cope. With the realization of death, the intellect ran full tilt into the emotions of paralysis. Paralysis was another form of death. We were trapped. ... How did we escape this psychological dilemma? We didn't, not totally. But nature, who is at least as smart as the average programmer, took the edge off it by evolving a workaround. Whenever we started dwelling too much on our own deaths, well ... voila! Suddenly we were thinking about God. God would make sense of it all. With apologies to Margaret Mitchell, we'd think about it tomorrow. Meanwhile, back to feeding our hungry children."

If you want to read this sort of personal musings about what the world is all about, you will not be disappointed by the book.

If what you looking for is a book that provides a balanced and informative picture of modern scholarship's findings about the origins of dogs, there is one that Franklin mentions once and sounds like it would be a good choice, though I have not personally read it yet:
The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People

If you want thought-provoking stories about personal relationships with dogs that reveal in present reality the kind of symbiotic relationship that Franklin theorizes about, a few of the ones I have enjoyed are the following:
Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
My Life in Dog Years

Franklin's theory is that around 12,000 years ago man and dog evolved into a symbiotic relationship in which dog supported some of man's emotional needs and man supported some of dog's rational needs. It is an interesting theory but based an incredibly thin line of evidence, and it is not really a scientific theory backed by evidence so much as it is the same class of "personal musings about the nature of the world" that so much of the rest of the book is devoted to.

The end of the book goes into recommendations about how people should treat dogs. These too are the author's personal opinion. Many make sense, but I take exception to one of them. Franklin believes people are better off buying purebred dogs from breeders. In a world so full of dogs in shelters needing homes, dogs that would make wonderful friends for anyone, many of whom will face death if not adopted, I hope that anyone who reads this book and thinks about getting a dog will read other books that talk about the joys of mixed-breed dogs before making a decision about what kind to get.

This thoroughly enjoyable book shows the power and joy that can be had from well-written nonfiction. The author's search for answers to an enigma is as gripping as the "whodunits" that I like to read. Yet, truth is more fascinating than made-up stories. A photo of a 12,000-year-old skeleton reaching out to the skeleton of a small dog entices Franklin on a quest that takes him from ancient caves guarded by wolf skulls to his own hearth where a Standard Poodle puppy named Charlie turns his world upside down. In this nonfiction mystery, Franklin sets out to discover why dogs are such an integral part of all societies, not only here in the U.S. This is more than a book about dogs; it is a book about what makes us human. It will appeal to anyone wanting to learn more about the world in which they live.

It became our morning ritual during the 11 months I was unemployed.
First I felt a cold nose on my leg as I sat at the breakfast table. Next, I heard a faint whimper. Then ...WHAM! ... a dog's head crashed through my newspaper and came to rest on my lap.

The message was clear. "It's time to go for our walk."


Until I read the new book by Jon Franklin, The Wolf in the Parlor (Henry Holt and Company), I thought our walks were all to please Tyrone. Now, I realize that maybe he understood that I needed them as much as he did. If so, he was right. It was difficult to adjust after going into the office almost every day for 39 year. The walks focused my thoughts and reduced my anxieties. And I've lost 20 pounds.

But Franklin's outstanding book goes even further outlining the significance of this relationship between man and his best friend.The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and University of Maryland professor spent more than two decades researching what he calls "the eternal connection between humans and dogs."

His conclusion: Dogs, or their ancestors, helped us become better people.

Just as Tyrone helps me.

I'm working again now. In fact, I now have two jobs. So I'm worried that Tyrone will be upset if that cuts into our walking time. Then, again, he may be having the same concerns about me.

"Just remember," Franklin said, "there's an animal on both ends of the leash."

It appears that this guy took a 10-20 page paper about the connection between humans and dogs and expanded it into a 200+ page book. If self-indulgent philosophical rambling is your cup of tea you will enjoy this book but if you are actually interested in learning something about how dogs and humans interact you will be out of luck. I definitely expected a whole lot more hard science and fact to be in this book.
The writing is ok but I frequently found myself skimming whole paragraphs to find the interesting parts.

WOLF IN THE PARLOR is one of those books that crosses genres and engages a reader on multiple levels. It's nonfiction, with fascinating facts and logically drawn out conclusions that will have you shaking your head and murmuring, oh, yeah, I can see that - while at the same time you're turning the pages as if it's a spell-binding mystery. Which it is. This is truly a thinking man's story. One of those books that, if you can put it down, will keep you engaged mentally and emotionally and looking at your pet, the dog next door and the dog down the street in a whole new way. I was reluctant to reach the end of my first reading of WOLF IN THE PARLOR, but also excited to share it with friends and fellow readers, and to pick it up again to read and savor more slowly. Thank you Mr. Franklin for creating a book that's a classic!

I loved this book as it opened my eyes to the possibility that dogs and humans co evolved to attend to different aspects of the environment. This symbiosis helped both the dog and human to survive and adapt. He also help makes the case for the emotional value dogs bring to the lives of their humans. He reflects my experience through his personal story and the science behind his other explanations.

Just as John Grogan, a longtime newspaper reporter, captured and memorialized his family's experiences with their yellow Lab, Marley, in the book "Marley and Me," so also does Jon Franklin, a reporter and originally not a dog lover, chronicle his deepening relation with Charley, a black poodle.

But Franklin is a two time Pulitzer Prize winning science writer, knowledgeable about evolution, archaeology, brain functioning, mental disorders, anthropology, historic patterns of climate change, etc. So as his emotional relationship with Charley deepens and he seeks to understand it, he turns to his knowledge of the various sciences to make sense of it.

The result is a mixture of narrative in the vein of "Marley & Me" describing events with Charley interwoven with Franklin's musing about the relevance of various scientific findings.

This book may be a disappointment to several sorts of readers: to those who want a Lassie or Marley-type story told without detours through side-streets of possibly related scientific findings, or to those whose religious faiths are opposed to various scientific findings keyed to evolution -- OR even to those who want a straight scientific exposition clearly stating the question, the evidence, the conclusion.

BUT, for many not in those groups, especially those who are both dog lovers and appreciators of evolutionary science, this book will be a delight.

Its thesis is extremely interesting and provocative: Early man became "civilized" (pastoral, agricultural, forming cities) in the same era that the dog became distinct from its wolf heritage.

Franklin posits that this was no coincidence, that the dog-human interaction was extremely important in the evolution of mankind just as humans have been in the evolution of the dog, and that a symbiotic relationship between the two species has co-evolved such that each species has given up 10% of its brain volume (and functions) to the other.

Fascinating, interesting book to those (like me) who are not offended by its stances.

I found almost ALL of the customer reviews on Amazon (to this date) to be relevant, even those more critical.

When his new wife bought home a puppy, Franklin realized he was going to have to live with a dog. One day he asked himself, "Why is there a wolf in my parlor?"

The question wouldn't let him go. Franklin writes:

"...while dogs were everywhere one looked, humans gave them no serious notice--and what's more, didn't see anything odd about this arrangement. It was as if we were deliberately ignoring dogs and that is the kind of thing that catches the attention of psychiatrists. And, of course, science journalists."

Franklin, a Pulitzer prize winning writer, became obsessed with answering the question. He eventually found an answer but it took him ten years.

His search for an answer took him everywhere from universities to dog shows and led to meetings with a series of fascinating characters including dog breeders, dog owners, anthropologists, university professors and dog catchers.

Franklin obviously loves dogs and the book is also a moving account of his relationship with Charlie, the full size poodle that his wife Lynn brought home as a puppy. His description of living with Charlie brought back emotional memories of the dogs that I have owned and loved.

My only regret is that I bought this book as a Kindle e-book. Now I have to buy a second hardcover copy. This is a book I want on my bookshelf.

Recommended for dog owners and potential dog owners -- including parents who are thinking about getting a puppy for their children. I also recommend the book for nonfiction writers. Franklins account of his search is a detailed, highly readable account of how a classic nonfiction book is written. Every library should own a copy.

I give this book 5 stars because I really enjoyed being on the author's journey to find the ever fleeting history of man and dog and how they came to be and I loved the final outcome and discovery that man and dog are meant to be together as a team - if it hadn't been for the dogs, we may have been extinct along with the saber tooths. I agree that it is a bit rambling - but I feel like that is part of the quest to search for the truth, that the author realized in his search to find the truth, he was looking more and more into a mirror, reflecting his own thoughts and beliefs on the dog, rather than embracing any real truths. It did feel like at one point, though, the author had put his pen down, and then picked it up much later, losing his original train of thought.

I strongly disagree with the author, however, and as Marc Beckoff has pointed out on many occasions - socialization is what shapes a dog's temperment versus breeding. I guess if one spends thousands of dollars to buy a purebred dog, one would have to justify spending that kind of money and would take the measures to maintain their high end purchase by taking them to training classes, etc. Good breeders make sure to socialize their puppies People who take the time to fully research breeders and are willing to pay a high price would try to be responsible pet owners -I would think. Mutts are actually more healthier than purebreds, and the original dog, as the author has pointed out, was a mutt. With genetic testing that can be done nowadays, mutts don't have to be the "wildcard" as they are mistakenly believed to be - you can determine what breeds are in a mutt and have an idea as to predictable behavior traits. The author is forever contradicting himself in this regard. He says, a dog is a dog is a dog and then repeatedly turns around to say that mutts are a gamble and to be a responsible dog owner, one must take the route he did, doing extensive research on breeders and shoveling out the big bucks for a purebred. This is sadly incorrect. Mutts are wonderful - I have three, and they are all from either the shelter or rescues. I took them to training; I still train them. My border collie/lab mix behaves better than the three purebred labs in his dog obedience class and has more manners. Saying that purebreds is the only way to go is thick-headed, and not doing a service to the hundreds, nay thousands, of dogs that end up in shelters around the country - all having the potential to be wonderful pets, regardless of pedigree or blood lineage.