Izzy And Lenore: Two Dogs, An Unexpected Journey, And Me (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Great book, and wonderful narrator. The author is depressed, and doesn't know why, or how to get out of it. He has retired to a farm, where he raises animals, to observe and write about them. He doesn't send them to slaughter. In this book he starts to work for hospice. He is using a dog he rescued, who turns out to be great with people. He tells very touching stories of people he worked with through hospice. He at a very dark point in his life, contacts his sister, who has a lot of problems with depression, and she has used drugs. They connect on a special level, since they shared their growing up years together. The gain from each other. I enjoyed it. It's not necessarily a precise sequence of events so I was slightly confused at times until I got used to that. I wasn't expecting it because the chapters are not entirely distinct essays. The author recounts his experiences on his farm, with a focus on relationships with his dogs. He becomes a hospice volunteer along with one dog in particular, Izzy. The stories of their visits to patients are sweet and sad. It is amazing how people suffering from dementia and other serious illnesses, basically detached from the world otherwise, react to a visit from a friendly, well-mannered pup. The author also suffers from depression and grapples with that throughout the book. You might think being a hospice volunteer would not help someone with depression, but it seems to keep him going. All in all an interesting book.
What do You think about Izzy And Lenore: Two Dogs, An Unexpected Journey, And Me (2009)?
Lenore from the Poe poemIt Shall class a sainted maiden whom the angels names Lenore.
—chichi
Jon Katz has two therapy dogs in this book. The stories were very moving.
—kazza
I loooooved this book. Going to have to check out more by this author!
—Nathan
Another fun read for dog lovers by Jon Katz.
—kristina
