cover image My Life with George: What I Learned About Joy from One Neurotic (and Very Expensive) Dog

My Life with George: What I Learned About Joy from One Neurotic (and Very Expensive) Dog

Judith Summers, . . Hyperion/Voice, $23.95 (271pp) ISBN 978-1-4013-2244-1

Coping with the loss in an 11-day period of both her ebullient husband and her beloved father in 1998, Summers, then the mother of a nine-year-old son, bought a puppy to fill the gaping emptiness in their lives. From his first night in his new London house, George, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, proved he was top dog when he finagled his way into Summers's bed. George's piercing barks could only be quieted by an early morning nosh; he vomited on carpets and beds after swallowing a foam ball; rang up astronomical bills at the vet and dental hygienist for frequent illnesses and mishaps; and ran off one of Summers's beaus with licking, farting and neediness. Summers's spiteful cat, who peed on the couch and let George take the rap, was sent packing to an animal refuge. George was devastated when Summers split with another boyfriend who pampered him with take-out Chinese, and the pooch survived a vicious attack by a bull terrier on Hampstead Heath. Although unnecessarily expanded from a newspaper article, Summers's (Casanova's Women ) genial, sweet Marley-wannabe tale should appeal to other pet owners whose rambunctious animals dominate their existence. (Nov. 6)