The art of making me cry in public places

Baby girl is a race car driver at heart

Finished The Art of Racing in the Rain this week. I had to travel and forgot my current read so I picked up TAoRitR in the airport and ended up reading the entire novel either waiting for, or sitting in, an airplane. This was problematic, because the story was prone to making me emotional. And by 'emotional' I mean 'cry'.

I loved this book.

It took me a while to get to it because it is being marketed as a dog story. (They tend to sell a lot better than racing stories.) But it has something for everyone: a dog, a love story, heartbreak, perseverance, and racing. The parts where the author describes racing are very authentic: he talks about real tracks, real drivers and real cars in such a way that he is either a racing enthusiast or he consulted one (or several) when he was working on the book.

Perhaps not coincidentally, I love dogs, and I love racing, and I love a good story. So this was right in my wheelhouse.

There are some who suggest that the theme and language in the book are too cheesy, too unsophisticated. To which I say: tosh!  Read it and enjoy it for what it is: a good story, well told. I think the style of the book suits the language and theme, but that's me.