I spent the better part of the summer watching documentaries. There’s something about the way a documentary gathers little pieces—people, places, events, memories, and bits of history—and brings them together to tell a larger story that I find fascinating. I’ve realized that I really enjoy stories that make me curious about the world and send me down an unexpected path.
That same curiosity is probably what led me to What the Dog Saw.
This summer, I made it to a new bookstore and, naturally, spent some time wandering the shelves. I also stopped at a few book sales and came home with several older books. I love finding books this way. You never quite know what is going to catch your attention.
One of those books was What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell.
I'll admit that the title was what initially pulled me in. At the time, we were mourning the loss of our beloved dog, Buddy, who was nearly sixteen years old.
Seeing the word Dog on the cover was enough to make me pick it up. I opened it, read a few pages from different sections, and decided it was coming home with me.
But as I’ve started reading it, I’ve discovered that it is much more than the title that has kept my attention.
What I particularly enjoy is the collection of completely different stories. Each one opens a door into something I may have forgotten, never understood, or never thought much about before. Some stories bring back memories of people, events, and even words that once seemed to be everywhere—like Enron, for example. Others introduce me to subjects I would probably never seek out on my own.
And then there are the stories that touch on something I already care deeply about. When an animal becomes part of the story, I’m naturally drawn in. I have always loved dogs, so I find myself especially interested in the way Gladwell looks at animals, their behavior, and the people who interact with them.
Perhaps that is why this book feels like a natural follow-up to my summer of documentaries. I like collecting the pieces. I like remembering. I like learning something unexpected. I like the feeling of encountering a story that makes me stop and think, I never knew that.
And sometimes, I think, a book begins with something as simple as a title catching your eye at just the right moment.
For me, What the Dog Saw did exactly that.
You can listen to an excerpt here