Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog
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I must say taking care of impulsive dogs like Marley demands patience and hard work. So I can appreciate the Grogan's dedicated care of this hyperactive dog, Marley, who had the typical traits of ADHD. Of course, dealing with ADHD people is so hard. When it comes to dogs with ADHD, that's even more difficult. He wasn't able to do as the owner told him to, made a lot of mischief, and so on - nothing was so annoying as these for most of dog owners. I might have flown off the handle if I had found his frequent misbehaviors. - "Next time you do this, you are going to the slaughterhouse! Get it?" I just wonder whether it meant animal abuse...
However, I felt Marley was John's vivid reminder when I found he received lots of e-mails after Marley's death. I guess that was mainly because most of those who e-mailed him said encouragingly that they had the same or worse experience with their misbehaved dogs. Perhaps John Grogan saw through Marley's pros as well as cons of the dog's rambunctiousness.
Anyway, without unconditional love with Marley, the hyperactive and rambunctious dog, John Grogan would never have written Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, I'd say.
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BUY THE BOOK NOT THE CD
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Don't get me wrong - buy the book and read it for yourself. The one mistake that John Grogan has made with this wonderfully uplifting story about Marley is to read the book himself. He has a voice best suited to newspapers and should leave it to a professional actor.
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Great book
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I laughed and I cried when I read this book. Every dog owner will be able to relate to the episodes in the book. I just couldn't put the book down , it only took me 2 days to read. John Grogan certainly has a way with words. I have ordered the children's picture book and my husband and I are even thinking of getting a 'Marley'. Without a doubt the best book that I've ever read.
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only okay
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I found this book only mildly entertaining and rather lacking in substance. I found the first few pages amusing but after that soon got the feeling that it was over padded (eg with long descriptions of what a labrador looks like, the history of the breed and differences between American and British Labradors). My guess is that it probably started out in life as a newspaper article (the author being a jouranalist) and would have been very witty. As a book you soon tire of the same stories/behaviours being trotted out in different forms. The author also uses uninteresting tales of his lovely but ordinary family and family life to fill pages. I must admit that the dog sounds like a challenging dog and Mr Grogan and family were obviously very kind and patient. My advice is if you want to read it borrow it from the library!
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Love Conquers All !
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Every dog owner has had bad moments. Perhaps your beloved pet snapped at a baby. Or ripped up the wallpaper in the living room. Or teethed on an expensive shoe. Or ran in front of a car and was injured.
Well, nothing you experienced will probably approach the virtually non-step disasters that the loopy Marley brought to Grogan family. Unless you've also known a mentally imbalanced Labrador, Marley will make you count your blessings about your luck as a dog owner and lover.
Mr. Grogan and his wife had each had good experiences with childhood dogs. They were unsuspecting when they went to buy the cute purebred Labrador puppy that Mr. Grogan dreamed of showing. There was one little hint: The sire raced by them on the first visit in a particularly bizarre way. Well, the son was a true heir to that behavior.
I won't go into all of Marley's problems . . . but he had almost all of the bad habits a dog can have except for eating his own stool. To compensate for that one point of relief, Marley developed a taste for chicken droppings late in life.
It wasn't unusual to have to rebuild rooms, replace screens in doors, buy new furniture and drag valuable items out of his throat.
Even on tranquilizers a thunderstorm was a terrible trauma for poor Marley.
The remarkable thing is that the Grogans' love for Marley surmounted the inconveniences of living with Marley. As you read about their remarkable patience, you'll be reminded on many moments when your patience was also tried . . . and you'll relive the happy times in your life with dogs.
The book covers Marley's entire life . . . and the changes that occurred in the Grogans' lives because of Marley.
Mr. Grogan is an exceptional writer, and he makes all of his episodes fun to read. I'm sure they were much less fun to experience. But he keeps it as light as he can.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that Mr. Grogan was the one member of the family most attached to Marley.
By the way, let me clear up one mystery: Marley was named for Bob Marley, after the Grogans couldn't agree on a more traditional name, due to their affection for the late singer's music.
Even if you don't think you'll like this book, read it anyway. I cannot recall a more charming book about dogs in the last decade.
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