Book Review: Travels With Casey

Growing up, I had three retired racing greyhounds, Magoo, Zoey and Kismet. After watching a documentary on the horrors of greyhound racing, my parents contacted a local rescue agency and, over the years, we brought home the three. Being that greyhounds are one of the fastest land animals with speeds up to 46 mph, taking care of them required some additional protections. For example, taking a greyhound to an open park is an exceptionally bad idea, but taking them to the local elementary school's enclosed field isn't all that great either (school security guard nearly called the cops because we were trespassing).

Reading Benoit Denizet-Lewis' Travels With Casey (Simon & Schuster) reminded me of those years our family owned the greyhounds. Blending a travelogue and a pet-focused memoir, Denizet-Lewis takes his yellow labrador Casey all across America in a rented RV. The book looks at every aspect of pet ownership, from dog whisperer Cesar Milan's compound (which I didn't realize was in my hometown) to the Westminster Dog Show to the unpleasant reality of overcrowded animal shelters. There is one particularly gut-wrenching chapter about dogs' lives on Native American reservations in Arizona. That chapter led the author to do something most people wouldn't do, but is incredibly noble.

To call the book a travelogue is selling it a bit short. What makes the book work is that it's really about the people and less about the environments they are in, so if you're expecting a travel book akin to Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, you'll be disappointed. Perhaps a better way to describe the book is that its a pet book that happens to involve travel rather than the other way around. A chapter that takes place in a Manhattan dog park had me laughing, but as Denizet-Lewis' journey progressed, the author has challenges in his own life as well as seeing the aforementioned darker side of dog life in America. For that, the author should be commended for showing an even-handedness in portraying dog life.

Unfortunately, the last third of the book felt rushed, as if the author's rented RV suddenly grew rocket boosters on its back and hauled buns across the country. Admittedly, the author was going through some relational issues at that point in the journey. However, the whole book was leading up to what Denizet-Lewis discovered from his travels around our dog-obsessed country and if his relationship with his dog was any better than before their trip, but the book ends before finishing developing these ideas.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars. Despite the rushed ending, there's a lot to like about the book and I would still recommend it. Travels With Casey has moments of humor, lots of heart and shares concern for those dogs not yet lucky to find a home. Any dog owner will enjoy it.

To see videos Benoit shot during the road trip, visit his YouTube page here.

What I'm Reading This Month

As always with the first of the month, I do a quick update of books on tap. For October, the unofficial theme is travel. In recent years, I've grown more and more interested in traveling the world and seeing different places (this despite being the pickiest eater I know). Travel makes us understand the world at large and how ideas and cultures converge, especially in a global economy. Here's a quick look at what I'll be reading through October...

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (Random House): India is rapidly changing as a result of globalization and residents in a Mumbai slum are getting left out, but hopeful they will eventually reach the middle class. Boo's book won tons of accolades when it was first published, including the National Book Award for nonfiction and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (Broadway): Bryson and Paul Theroux have long been named the best travel writers around, so before I delve into Bryson's more recent fare like One Summer, I wanted to read one of his earlier books. After living in Britain for 20 years, Bryson and a friend attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in a more comedic take on the usual travelogue. Rumor has it that a film version will be released next year.

Travels with Casey by Benoit Denizet-Lewis (Simon & Schuster): When I first saw the trailer for Denizet-Lewis' book earlier this spring, I immediately added it to my TBR list. He travels all over the country with his nine-year old Labrador mix Casey and visit everyone from a stray dog rescuer in the Midwest to famed dog whisperer Cesar Milan in Southern California to a beagle-shaped bed and breakfast in Idaho. As a former dog owner myself, I'm especially looking forward to this one. Below is the book's trailer:

Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (Vintage/Knopf): This book is a bit outside my usual fare, but the book has received universal praise for its highlighting of women's issues around the world. At times, reading should challenge us and our world view. Kristof and WuDunn just released their newest book, A Path Appears, but I opted to read this one first. Half the Sky was made into a PBS miniseries as well.