Travels with Casey, My Journey through Our Dog-Crazy Country, by Benoit Denizet-Lewis, Simon and Schuster 2015
In the tradition of Rinker Buck's Oregon Trail, a crazy bouncing trek across long-unused wagon ruts, and Scents and Sensibility, the latest Spenser Quinn Chet and Bernie mystery, comes Travels with Casey, an 8-year old Labrador mix and his human, packed into an RV for the big cross-continent trip. It's a dog's life and dog lovers will enjoy this adventuresome duo as they encounter real-life stories like homeless dog owners, celebrity dog lovers, dog rescuers, K9 cops, dog-wielding hitchhikers, dog trainers like Caesar Millan, show dog contestants, the man who lives with wolf-dogs, and best of all, Denizet-Lewis' former middle-school English teacher who now works as a "dog masseur."
It all starts, as the reader can see from the frontispiece map, in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where the author rents a small RV, small enough for a man and his canine companion, but not so big that navigating cities like San Francisco - yes, he had big dreams - would be dangerous. But Casey is having no part of this big crazy crate -
"... I opened the RV's side door and tried to sweet talk Casey inside.
"Go on," I said, "It'll be fun." He paced instead around the motor home, found a nearby bush, and peed."
Four months and 13,000 miles later the human/canine duo have changed, well maybe Casey not so much. But they've definitely added new foods, new friends to their lives.
Note to the publisher:
" A book is forever. Get it right." Bob Wallace, legendary Free Press (Simon & Schuster) editor.
Benoit Denizet-Lewis is a great writer. He did his job well. But the book design and graphics need work. Why is this fabulous Dedication plunked high on the copyright page where most readers won't see it? -
To cats
(Just kidding.)
to dogs!
And why is the glorious cross-country map starring Casey and the RV shown in color on the publisher's flyer, and in black and white in the actual book? Ditto for the opening photos at page one of each chapter? And where the heck is the author's bio? Found the Prologue, Notes, Index, but had to read the publisher's fact sheet to find the bio? Huh?