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A Three Dog Life (Hardcover)

~ Abigail Thomas (Author)
Key Phrases: Northeast Center, Outsider Art, New York City (more...)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
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Frequently Bought Together

A Three Dog Life + Thinking About Memoir (AARP) + Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life
Total List Price: $50.90
Price For All Three: $37.83

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stephen King's front-cover endorsement of Thomas's memoir as the best he's ever read—and a "punch to the heart"—will surely pique interest in this wrenching, elegiac portrait of her third husband, Rich, who flounders in a miasmic present after a hit-and-run in their Manhattan neighborhood shatters his skull, destroys his short-term memory and consigns him to permanent brain trauma. A deft balance of fevered pathos and dark humor link this memoir, in spirit and theme, to Safekeeping, Thomas's collected vignettes that memorialize her second husband. But Thomas also finds wellsprings of inspiration in her tragicomic interactions with Rich and in the self-reliance she's forced to develop, aided by her faithful dogs (the book's title adapts an aboriginal phrase, derived from the tradition of cuddling with dogs on frigid nights). Rich—himself reminiscent of a Stephen King eccentric—utters eerily prescient, absurdly poetic non sequiturs, probing the essence of time and love with ingenuous intuition, though his acute paranoia and confusion make these exchanges truly heartbreaking. Thomas's quick-cutting chronology and confessional narration subtly re-enacts the soupiness of her husband's mind, even as she quietly thanks him for the wisdom of living in the present. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In these exquisitely written essays Thomas reflects on how her marriage had to be reinvented after the night her husband, Richard, took their dog, Harry, out for a walk, and Harry came home alone. Richard had been hit by a car and was lying bleeding in the street. The traumatic head injury he suffered didn't kill him, as attending police had predicted it would, but it rendered him susceptible to large-scale memory loss, hallucinations, and such wild rages that Thomas was forced to commit him to an institution. Lesser events have destroyed relationships, so it would not be surprising to learn that Thomas abandoned Richard. She didn't. Instead, she sold their New York apartment, moved upstate to be near him, and acquired two more dogs to keep her company. What's more, she can't imagine life without her husband, saying, "It would be like falling through space with a parachute but no planet to land on." Thomas has elevated what could be, at best, an overemotional sermon or, at worst, a grim romp in self-pity to a high plain of true inspiration. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Harcourt; 1 edition (September 5, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0151012113
  • ISBN-13: 978-0151012114
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #454,518 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Abigail Thomas
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Northeast Center, Outsider Art, New York City, West Side Market, Central Park
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Three Dog Life
83% buy the item featured on this page:
A Three Dog Life 4.5 out of 5 stars (93)
$16.50
Thinking About Memoir (AARP)
6% buy
Thinking About Memoir (AARP) 3.8 out of 5 stars (15)
$10.17
Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life
6% buy
Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life 4.5 out of 5 stars (21)
$11.16
Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale
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Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale 4.9 out of 5 stars (129)
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Customer Reviews

93 Reviews
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 (62)
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 (22)
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (93 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
95 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Rave Review for A Three Dog Life, September 19, 2006
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*****
This book is sweet, poignant, and beautiful. It is also gut-wrenchingly honest and realistic about the author's attempts to cope with her life after her husband has a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). He gets hit by a car while walking their dog and their lives are never the same. This memoir is about the author's life and marriage after the accident and for the next five years, until the present day. I loved reading it. I haven't really ever read a book like it.

The author builds herself a life, accompanied by what ends up being three dogs altogether. She still takes joy in her marriage, such as it is. I wish I could put into words how beautiful this book is, but I can't. It is a lovely book with mature topics (grieving, survivor guilt, etc.) for adults or especially mature teens. Highest recommendations.
*****
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64 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars It's 2am and I'm reading "A Three Dog Life" again....., September 19, 2006
......enjoying it so much that when I finished, I felt that my best old friend had left me. Afraid to let go, I had to start reading it again, so we could re-unite. I found new gems with every re-read, and appreciated the writing, warmth and feeling even more than the first time in a way that love/like is not supposed to work.
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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Brief, lovely read, September 28, 2006
By Gillian B. Cieri (West Palm Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
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This memoir managed to be both incredibly sad and yet positive and life-affirming at the same time. Abigail Thomas describes the journey she must take in the years after her husband's accident and how she manages to progress from inner turmoil (and at times, the inability to function at all), to a place where she is at peace with her life. Though her husband must remain at a hospital for brain-injured patients, she is able to bring him home for visits and spends time with him at the center. The comments and thoughts from his head are so fascinating...I found myself eagerly waiting to see what he would say the next time. Just wondering about the brain and all that we don't know about it is truly amazing to me. Sometimes he makes pronouncements that appear so profound, and other times he seems in total confusion, and while it's incredibly heartbreaking, it's also mesmerizing to read their conversations together.
As for Thomas' relationship with her three dogs, she describes it beautifully. I would think any dog owner, as I am, can relate to the description of bed-crowding and jostling for the most attention, but mainly to the bond that forms between human and animal.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Brave, Genuine, Beautiful
When sitting down to write the review for this book, I knew it was important to note the situation Abigail was thrust into with the terrible accident of her husband was more than... Read more
Published 1 month ago by BreitGirl

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written, Insightful, No cliches
This book could easily have gone down the obvious path: Sentimental and predictable about a late-life marriage, dogs, or (gag) religion and the 'calling' of being the spouse of a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ghost Reader

1.0 out of 5 stars Publishing machine fools naive readers into thinking average book is a "gem"
I am an avid fiction reader and writer. I got suckered into buying this book the way millions probably did - review printed on the cover by Stephen King plus desperate middle... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Always Right

5.0 out of 5 stars Misleading title perhaps
This is a beautifully written book, at turns touching, painful, and hilarious. I read this in book club and we agreed: the title is somewhat misleading. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Editing_Gal

3.0 out of 5 stars A e Dog Life
Haven't read this yet, but I am expecting it to be very good based on what family and friends have said about it. I am disappointed that it does not appear to be bound well. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Sharon Fried

5.0 out of 5 stars I liked it
The title is what drew me to this book. I love my dog and things canine. Though dogs are somewhat peripheral to this memoir they are part of the central cast, portrayed with love... Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Karl

4.0 out of 5 stars A very moving and touching memoir
This touching memoir is uniquely written in a free flowing style that can be a bit hard to follow at times as the chapters do bounce back and forth in time. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Redlady

3.0 out of 5 stars Therapeutic Exercise for the Author
This is a non-fiction book by Abigail Thomas, who writes of losing her husband, Rich, through a traumatic brain injury, where his skull is shattered and his brain severely... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Loyd E. Eskildson

5.0 out of 5 stars read this book
this is truely a great book. Abigail is a phenomonal writer and is able to describe the humor, pathos and great, deep sadness in such a way, that it brings tears to your eyes and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jane LaFazio

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Dog Life
A Three Dog Life is a very good book for someone who has suffered a loss. My husband had recently passed away when a friend recommended this book. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Janice J. Parks

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