Katz, whose books A Dog Year
and Running to the Mountain
earned him many faithful, dog-loving readers, here channels James Herriott's brand of agricultural humanism. It's a classic setup for amusing anecdotes: a 50-something "suburban rookie" buys a farm in upstate New York, stocking it with three border collies and a small herd of sheep. His skeptical wife agrees to the plan, but wisely forbids firearms, farm machinery and long trips in the pickup. This leaves plenty of latitude for adventures—lost sheep, horrible weather, the dramas of dog training and lamb birthing. Soon, the introspective author realizes that his interactions with dogs are about "trying to become a better human." After all, his dogs have unfailingly high expectations of him. The troublesome pup, Orson, becomes the great test of Katz's emotional maturity, requiring consistent discipline and love in the face of awful misbehavior (one of Orson's habits is eating sheep feces). "If we herd sheep for another decade or so," Katz writes, "I might make it: I might become a patient man." While there's no deeply surprising insight into human nature nor any particularly revealing information about canine behavior, these stories offer readers a potent stew of triumphs and failures, all tied together by the constancy of complicated, joyful, lovable dogs. Agent, Richard Abate at ICM
. (Oct.)
