Marley and Me
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Everyone Loves Jenny
I was invited to Martin County, Florida, last weekend to participate in a large book festival known as BookMania, which brought in a host of authors from around the country. I was on a panel discussion with three wonderful writers -- Maureen Corrigan, National Public Radio book critic and author of the memoir "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading"; Carlos Eire, a professor of religion at Yale and author of the memoir, "Waiting for Snow in Havana"; and my old friend Scott Eyman, the Palm Beach Post's book editor and a prolific non-fiction author whose most recent work is the biography of Louis B. Mayer, "Lion of Hollywood."
We had a spirited conversation in front of a full house of about 400 people. Our 75-minute discussion was taped by C-SPAN2's Book TV and will be broadcast in the next several weeks. (Watch my "Upcoming Events" page for airing times.)
But it was at the cocktail party the night before that I learned an important something about my own book. And that is that everyone loves Jenny. The cocktail party was a fundraiser for the Martin County library system, and it brought authors and patrons together to mingle and chat while eating really good appetizers and swigging blue martinis. So I'm wandering the floor with my wife, Jenny, who, as you know if you've read the book, plays a prominent role in Marley & Me. I was all geared up to talk with the patrons about my book. But, as it turned out, most of them wanted to talk less with me than with my wife.
One woman who had just finished the book rushed right past me, threw her arms around Jenny and proclaimed: "I just loved you!"
Another said, "You were my favorite part!"
Still another: "I am totally you."
And another: "I went through the exact same thing."
Uh, hello? Anyone want to say hi to the author?
This was not a new phenomenon. A fair amount of the mail I get centers on the irrepressible Jenny and her journey into motherhood -- conceiving, miscarriage, pregnancy problems and forced bed rest, and the post-partum depression she suffered after our second child that nearly led us to find a new home for Marley. Many women, I am learning, have had similar experiences in their lives and related deeply to those passages in the book.
A question I often get at book readings is, "Did Jenny mind you writing so candidly about something so personal?" The answer is no; at least I don't think so. To the contrary, she says she thinks it is important to talk about these things so women don't feel they are alone with these experiences. And besides, Jenny is a writer, too, and knows that if you are going to tell a story, especially a story about yourself, you need to tell it honestly, and if you can't, then you must find a different topic.
Last week, The New York Times cultural writer Dinitia Smith came to our house in Pennsylvania to interview me for a story that is in today's (1/26/06) Times. (You can read it at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/books/26marl.html )
Ms. Smith, who is a very charming and lovely person, also felt the need to comment on the Jenny Factor, telling me she thought Jenny really made the book. In fact, she told me three times. "Uh, and what about her charming, erudite husband?" I wanted to ask, but resisted. Gee, an author could get a complex....The Chopped Dog Chow Complex. :) I just hope all this attention doesn't go to her head!
And more good news out of The New York Times. On the upcoming Nonfiction Bestseller List, Marley & Me climbs from #4 to #2. My heartfelt thanks to every last one of you who has bought my book and helped keep it floating up near the top of the list. As of this week, Marley & Me is in its 20th printing, with 870,000 copies now in print. It has certainly been the ride of my life.
posted by John Grogan at 8:09 PM
 
6 Comments:
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I look forward to purchasing and reading your book. I was astounded the other day to see your story on CNN, partly because despite not knowing about Marley and Me, I recently had my own first book published. It is called Life's too Short to Be an Underdog ... and other spiritual life lessons I learned from my dog. I enjoyed the excerpt from the website and look forward to reading the whole story. I hope that you continue to enjoy the success of Marley and Me and invite you to check out my book at www.thedavesmith.com
I have just finished reading "Marley and Me" and for the first time ever, I am logging on to an author's website to read more about John Grogan and to learn more about his beloved companion, Marley. I saw the book in a small bookstore in the airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia as I was waiting to board my flight back to Calgary, Alberta. The store clerk saw my interest in the book as I was reading the book jacket. She told me that if I was a dog lover, I would love the book. She shared with me the fact that she laughed, and cried, and laughed and cried as she read the book and then she told me a few "dog stories" of her own. I was smitten! :-) She was absolutely RIGHT!! I was embarassed to be wiping tears away as I flew from east to western Canada. Then I was chuckling out loud. What a fabulous job you have done, John, in telling your story! And what a wonderful, and very special, canine companion you had in Marley. I have three dogs...two Golden Retrievers and a "mutt" who was rescued in a starving, half- frozen state. He had been so hungry that he had rocks in his tummy, which he had eaten to stave off hunger pains. On every page of your book, I could identify with the "ups and downs" of your adventures with Marley and I found myself feeling truly "attached" to him, a dog I had never known. I was weeping buckets of tears as I read about the day you and Jenny made the difficult decision to let him go to puppy heaven. We, too, had to do this about 10 months ago, when we lost our Golden Retriever, Katy. I think that reading your book has validated the depth of the love that I had for her, and the pain I experienced in losing her. Thank you so much for writing such a wonderful book!! I look forward to seeing it be interpreted in movie form.
Sincerely, Nanci in Calgary, Alberta, Canada :-)
John,
Congrats on the movie deal...I have the great feeling that the response will be just as good as the book! I can't wait!
I loved your devotion to Marley. Your book spoke to the very hearts of all of us dog lovers who put up with bad behavior, bad breath (and worse smells), mud, chewed up furnishings, midnight wakings, and those sneak kisses on our lips!!
Somedays we say "Why oh why do I put up with this?" But we know why. We love the silly, loving fools. We can't imagine life without them. And hey, I for one was disappointed not to see a picture of your whole family. I feel like I know them.
Congratulations on the movie prospect. Just finished Marley and Me last night(eyes are a little puffy today!) and I can't get over the parallels in your story to our own families' dog, (yellow lab) "Wally" who was a part of our lives for 12 years. Wally and Marley even looked sooo alike I stopped short when I saw the cover of your book in the bookstore. Every one in our neighborhood knew "Wally". He was our "first" big goofy kid (weighing in at almost 100lbs!)before our girls where born. I felt as though I was reliving wonderfull memories of those twelve years with every page I turned. Thankyou so much for this tribute....We will cherish this book as a keepsake in memory of "Wally" through "Marley and Me.
Shelly Grimley
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Canada
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