From bestselling author of She’s Not There, New York Times opinion columnist, and human rights activist Jennifer Finney Boylan, Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs, a memoir of the transformative power of loving dogs. This is a book about dogs: the love we have for them, and the way that love helps us understand the people we have been. It’s in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can … in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can best now take the measure of the child I once was, and the bottomless, unfathomable desires that once haunted me.
There are times when it is hard for me to fully remember that love, which was once so fragile, and so fierce. Sometimes it seems to fade before me, like breath on a mirror.
But I remember the dogs.
In her New York Times opinion column, Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote about her relationship with her beloved dog Indigo, and her wise, funny, heartbreaking piece went viral. In Good Boy, Boylan explores what should be the simplest topic in the world, but never is: finding and giving love.
Good Boy is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman–accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. “Everything I know about love,” she writes, “I learned from dogs.” Their love enables us to pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.
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Boylan’s gorgeously crafted homage to our unconditional love of dogs turns out to be much less of a paean to her constant canine companions, and much more of a journey through her own psyche and the moral needle of the world we live in. What do we keep, even as we lose pieces of ourselves? The dog at your feet while you’re reading already knows the answer.
Beautiful, tender, and utterly engaging, Good Boy measures out Boylan’s life in dog years. The result is a gorgeous memoir, full of heart and insight.
In Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs, bestselling author Jennifer Finney Boylan invites us along with her as she navigates a path filled with self discovery, a path that forces her to be honest not only with herself, but with the people she cares for most as she transitions to her true self. Along the way we meet, in addition to those people she cares for, seven very different, but truly unforgettable dogs that, though their own individual honesty, teach Boylan about life and love, along with the real truth about man’s best friend.
Prior to receiving Good Boy I honestly had never heard of Jennifer Finney Boylan, but after reading I feel that I know her quite well. I think the thing I liked most about Good Boy was the brutal honesty, especially the honesty about the dishonesty, and the growth that resulted when the truth was faced. There were so many times that I felt such an incredible sadness in regards to her feelings and thoughts, along with the desperate measures contemplated in the hope of obtaining a sense of normalcy. There were also many moments of genuine laughter, especially centered around the antics of Matt the Mutt. The language really invites the reader in; it reminds me of a friendly, albeit deep conversation over tea. At times I struggled with this novel. There were some points that seemed to drag for me, and sometimes it seemed a little jumpy and scattered, but then at other points it flowed in such a way that I became completely and fully immersed in the story, losing track of time. Overall I enjoyed this novel and feel that others will as well, especially if they are a lover of pets with crazy pet stories of their own.
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs is available u202athis Tuesday, April 21stu202c!
Thank you to Celadon Books for sending me an ARC of Good Boy, given in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I absolutely LOVE Jennifer Finney Boylan’s memoirs – she has one of the most honest and compelling voices as a writer, and there are always so many remarkable observations and self-realizations contained within… She has a fascinating ability to pull you directly into her life and make you feel right along with her throughout the journey – be the feelings happy, sad, conflicted or otherwise. It makes for quick reads that always teach me something about myself as much as they do about her.
I am not a dog person. Until recently I never thought I was a cat person either, but when our daughter begged for a pet and the opportunity arose, we took it and I’ve never looked back. Still, I wasn’t sure if a book focusing on dogs was going to be my jam – although I love her writing so much that I requested it anyway. Boylan’s tales about the role her pets played in her life, from her childhood as a boy struggling with her truth to an adult coming to terms with her changing life as she ages, moved me and made me laugh out loud, sometimes with tears trickling down my cheeks.
I’d read her grocery list at this point, and come away from it having learned something not only about what she eats but about myself as well… Thank goodness I found her, and here’s hoping she keeps writing for years to come!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
I thought the book was going to be about dogs , but turn out to be about a transgender person, bad , I hated it , never again!
Good Boy is a warm, funny, instantly engaging testament to the power of love ― canine and human ― to ease us through life’s radical transitions. And I say that as a cat person!
Jenny Boylan has given us a story full of humor, earned wisdom, and large doses of unconditional love. Beautifully written, wise, and funny, Good Boy is a gift to us all ― but especially the dog lovers.
How do you measure a life? Anyone who has lived serially with dogs will appreciate Jenny Finney Boylan’s brilliant answer: through the dogs who have accompanied you through that life. The dogs we choose reflect us, and how we live with them reflects on us. Silent observers of the vicissitudes of growing up — and being grown up — Boylan’s dogs track her selves. Good dogs, all.
In this compelling, well-written memoir, Jennifer Boylan reflects on her life through recollections about her seven primary dogs – and a few auxiliary ones. Central to the memoir is the story of how and when Professor Boylan decided to come out as trans after a lifetime of knowing “you are still not you.”
The framing device works OK to organize the book into memories of boyhood, manhood, and womanhood. We meet the dog, learn about his/her background with the Boylan family, and hear some stories about the dog that lead into Professor Boylan’s description of significant moments in her life.
I enjoyed both the stories about the dogs and Professor Boylan’s honest and moving discussion of her journey toward transition, but I think I might have enjoyed them more if they had been two separate books. They differ in tone and pace. The dog stories are often hilarious, as when Professor Boylan articulates the inner voice and thought process of dogs just being dogs:
“She had a nose for trouble. On one occasion, I came home to find that she’d eaten a five-pound bag of flour. She was covered in white powder, and flour paw prints were everywhere, including, incredibly, the countertops. I asked the dog what the hell had happened, and Indy just looked at me with a glance that said, I cannot imagine to what you are referring.”
The conceit of putting words in the dogs’ mouths does not bear up so well when it comes to asking the dog to further the narrative of the memoir. Sometimes their roles seem implausible. Professor Boylan credits half-Chow Lucy with a moment of extraordinary perception and encouragement after regaling us with pages and pages of Lucy’s utter contempt for everyone in the family. It’s a moment that makes sense for the memoir; it’s necessary for the narrative in the memoir. It does not make sense for Lucy, and she no longer seems like a real dog, but a device.
But despite the somewhat unwieldy meld of dog stories and coming-out memoir, this is an interesting, often beautifully written book. Recommended.
Many thanks to Celadon Books for the Goodreads Giveaway ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Good Boy by Jennifer Finney Boylan is a heartwarming memoir that is told in part by the author giving part of her life story through the association of several of her beloved furry canine companions during those times and how they helped mold and shape her as the person she is today.
Any dog owner or lover will enjoy this book in getting to hear the “tails” of a life lived with man’s best friend. There are happy and lol moments. There are definitely sad moments. I laughed and cried throughout this book. My heart went out to her several times with the loss of her loved ones.
Seeing how honorable and selfless dogs truly are brings home the true joy that they add to our lives. They are loving, loyal, uplifting, and add a richness to our souls that cannot be replaced. We are forever changed, and I think improved, with these loved ones by our sides. It is only right that we should do everything we can to do the same for them.
Ms. Finney Boylan is clearly a talented and gifted writer, and while the transitions and outline could have been smoother, I truly enjoyed reading this book. As a dog owner, I was truly drawn into and throughout the pages, and truly am grateful to have read this book and to be able to experience the love of my dog at home today.
Thank you Celadon and BookishFirst for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.