Book of the Month: Walking in Circles Before Lying Down

Author  writes for David Letterman, and has been trying her hand at writing novels for a while now. Walking in Circles Before Lying Down isn’t her first work, but it was the first of hers that I’d read- and it is a RIOT! I picked it up on a whim, after seeing it in the grocery store. After reading it, I promptly went out and purchased several copies as gifts for friends. This book was my first venture into reading canine-themed fiction, and while the human aspects of it can be a bit grim and grisly (our heroine is twice-divorced and about to be dumped by the current man in her life, among other disasters), the opinions and input provided by the main character’s dog is screamingly funny. The supporting cast of nutty relatives and constant references to recognizable current events in this California-themed book are equally entertaining.

And then the dog starts talking. Wait, not just one dog, ALL of the dogs… And the things they have to stay… oh, man…!

This is quite easily the most hilarious dog-themed work of fiction I’ve ever read. It take some commitment to get through the first 3 chapters (which just might be the zaniest events of any book I’ve ever read), but it’s WORTH it! This book is laugh-out-loud-until- your-dogs-freak-out funny – at almost every turn of the page! (…which means my dogs didn’t enjoy me reading it much. They were very concerned at my outbursts of guffaws and giggles. Why is mommy making that insane noise?)

Markoe’s other dog-centric books are also worth a mention, though I didn’t find them nearly as amusing as this one. She’s got a pretty cute children’s book, though, The Day My Dogs Became Guys, which adults and kids alike will find quite imaginative. Consider what kind of character your own dog might be, were he or she to suddenly become human…

-Jennifer Casula, a group fitness instructor with 20 years’ experience, lives in Texas with her husband, three dogs, three cats, and two turtles. Jennifer occasionally fosters puppies for Texas Cattle Dog Rescue and often answers emails for the rescue from people with training and behavior questions about their dogs.