A story from Dakota about Luna&Simba&Allison *<:)
posted 04/23/20081208993454

Hi john,you are a great Dog lover like me.i have 3 dogs like marley except they didn't die (sorry about Marly).i loved her very much.I am 9 and i live in my name.Cool huh?Luna is a yorkie we got from our father.He once gave us a golden Retreiver that was a puppy but it wasn't as big as one!!It was a gigcantic dog(sheesh!)it loved water.Our pool was green for a week! on that same week our plump pup,Allison, jumped into our pool but you may think she was green and stinky but she was clean,golden,wet,and fat.

A story from Cathy about Achoo, Ronie, Melrose, Pig & Sydney
posted 07/04/2008

Again, Thank you for your wonderful tale (tail) about your life with Marley. I could really relate to your indecision about Marley's sickness and what to do as he worsened. I take comfort from the fact that though I put off the time to put any of my housemates down, I know that I searched my conscience about why I was prolonging their lives and if they were in pain. I take solace that they died queitly with my daughter,Sarah and me present holding them or their paws and that they are buried in the backyard with their collars and a rock to mark their spots. They are not forgotten-never will be and were well loved and knew right itup until the last moment. My current dog friends were quite concerned as the tears streamed down my face as I read of the last months of Marley's life and how difficult it was for you and your family. I hope that Sarah can make it through your book. She's such a tender heart. Cathy

A story from Cathy about Achoo, Piggy, Byron, Melody and Sydney
posted 07/04/2008

God...I read it in a day and laughed out loud on too many occasions to count and cried like a baby as the end approached. Achoo (Chewy-Louie)was the latest of our dogs to have to be put down this past spring at 15. He was Ah-Choo Shitzu. At the end, he was blind and deaf and if on a leash would find anything upright around which to wrap himself to the point of choking and not understanding, would try to bite (and did) the hand that sought to untangle him. He'd stare at the refrigerator door or a wall from a distance of 3 inches not for food but because he didn't know it was there. He knew the ups and downs of the floors and thresholds in our old farmhouse from memory, but at the end consistently misjudged a step and launched himself chest first into it. Piggy was my first long term dog and saw me through college (she had her BA in Art from the Univ. of Denver,too) and into the first 10 years of married life, succumbing at age 17, Great dog, though she never knew she was a dog and God forbid that she was an oversized miniature poodle-inverterate collector of twigs and sawdust, great, no GREAT person/dog. Then we had Byron & Melody. first cousin Goldens, who like Marley could sweep a coffee table clear with one swipe of their tails. Melo was younger by one year, but by far the more competitive. No tennis call was safe from her. On a walk she would return with ones stolen out of garages we passed. Fuzz was ripped off as soon as possible and she never failed to return a thrown ball regardless of how heavy the underbrush or how deep the snow or how far out into the water. She was a sexist dog, though. She quickly figured out that most men have a stronger arm for throwing that women and would return a ball to a man, despite entreaties from women in the group. You had to "prove" to her that you could really throw before she would deign to return a ball to you if you were female. Byron really only competed to enjoy the run and if you tricked her and he got to the ball first he would just give it up to her as she approached. She never had to intimidate him, he just didn't care THAT much. But when our daughter was born their responses were oddly sexist when she cried, especailly if she had been napping in her bsket in the living room. Byron (Ronie) would come into the kitchen and you could see him wringing his hands and dithering,"she's crying, she's crying", whereas Mel (Smellody Rose)would go into the living room and return with nochalance and shrug, "She's ok." They shared a crate as their house from puppyhood. which got rather tight as they became full grown. Having had cats and dogs for years, my husband and I used to joke that we'd just put a ruffle around the "safari crate" when the baby came and sure enough, one of our most priceless pictures is of Byron, Melody, Sarah, and the cat Priss all in to crate. Sarah was crawling and she closed the door. Too funny. Of course, nothing hit the floor like Marley. I can't imagine having a baby and not having a dog to catch all those spills. They got me through divorce and starting over. My ex-husband was smart enough to realize that Sarah didn't deserve to have her father take her dogs wjen he left. She used to watch TV lying on the floor resting her head on Melody's sidde as Mr. Rogers and Big Bird did their stuff. Great memory. You made me remember some of the best beings with whom I've ever shared a house. We now have a mentally defective self-centered Corgi (Toby)who doesn't belive that I AM the alpha wolf even after 6 years. We gave him a home as a 2-3 year old, but I think he feels "entitled". We have an uneasy relationship and my daughter has "saved" him from death on several occasions after he has bitten me. (Yeah I know I'm stupid). We also have Sydney, an adopted and wonderfully sweet puppy rescued from a southern shelter. She has been a joy despite the fact that she was a chewer and a digger as a puppy. Now she is so trustworthy that she doesn't try to steal from the trash or the table. Unfortunately she now lives with Sarah about 45 miles away and though I "babysit" when asked I don't see her as much as I'd like. We've figured out that she is a cross between a Chow and a Border Collie. Thank you for the opportunity to remember my good friends. As I said I laughed and laughed and laughed and cried and cried and cried and cried. Cathy (and Sarah) My copy of your book goes to her tomorrow to read and I'm going out to purchase a half dozen more for birthday presents.

A story from Laura about Chips and Tawny
posted 07/04/2008

I got Chips the Golden Retriever when I was five. We grew up together, and I lost him in September right before my 18th birthday. Your book brought back so many memories of his antics and all the incredibly stupid things he did, but those were the times that made us love him even more. He used to chase his tail until he actually fell on the ground, not even letting go until we pried it out of his mouth. Even though I would yell and scream at him after he ate one of my favorite stuffed animals or yanked me through the neighbor's flower garden, we all knew he was one of the best dogs we'd ever have. We got the other dog in the picture; Tawny at a shelter in 2004. As you can probably tell from the picture they became best friends over those next couple of years. It was a hard loss for her too. I think losing Chips hurt my dad the most. My dad goes on daily runs and ever since Chips could walk on a leash was taking him along, no matter how far he went. Chips would go forever if he could. That dog was running with my dad until the day he died. These days we are mainly reminded of the happy times with Chips, and how much he loved life until the very end.

A story from Julia about Cacau
posted 07/04/2008

Jhon Hello! I am Brazilian and I just read your book, Marley would be wonderful, I emocionei much with the story of you, cried reading the part where Marley was sick and the brink of death ... I have a yorkshire, Cocoa, but after reading his book spent there, the flame-Marley, it is very similar to his Marley, and loves the feces of cats from the neighbor, she loves to bite and destroyed everything ... Congratulations to Jhon for his book, like much of his family and mainly of Marley! I hope that my English is good ...

A story from John Pearshouse about Joseph
posted 07/04/2008

Just a week before xmas i heard a whimpering on the balcony next door to my apartment,on further inspection i found it to be a rather scared, filthy and thursty puppy. Being the nice bloke that i am i rang my landlord(who lived next door) who told me that said puppy was his son's, but he'd thrown him out for some silly reason! Well of course i had to take the little ball of fluff in and after many hours of discussions( well me telling my landlords son he was a wast of skin) i became the proud owner of a border collie. Now eight months on Joseph and myself are inseprable. We have survived a break up with my partner, a house move(long story but mainly becaudse of my desire to re-educate my landlords son in the world of animal welfare)and many other trials and tribulations. Without Joseph i would have spent nights sobbing into my beer, but in true collie fashion he cheers me up every time i frown.

A story from Cassie : ) about Boots
posted 07/04/2008

My dog Boots, who is a 6 year old boston terrier reminds me SO much like your dog Marley!!!! Boots is playful, hyper, energetic and mischebious!!!!!! Although Boots is mischebious, he hasn't eaten any jewlrey of my mom's!!! ............. yet!!!!!! Thank you for sharing your touching story about your dog with the world and me. Now I think I've finally found a FANTASTIC book!!!! Thanks again!

A story from Cassie : ) about Boots
posted 07/04/2008

My dog Boots, who is a 6 year old boston terrier reminds me SO much like your dog Marley!!!! Boots is playful, hyper, energetic and mischebious!!!!!! Although Boots is mischebious, he hasn't eaten any jewlrey of my mom's!!! ............. yet!!!!!! Thank you for sharing your touching story about your dog with the world and me. Now I think I've finally found a FANTASTIC book!!!! Thanks again!

A story from Lori, Albuquerque, NM about Nole-for FSU Seminoles
posted 07/04/2008

First off let me say,"Sorry that I am just now getting around to reading Marley and Me." It is a wonderful book filled with every emotion. I have not laughed or cried so hard in years. It took me two weeks to get through the end of the book because I didn't want to reach the part of Marley's death. I sat here this morning and cried for an hour. I'm sure everyone tells you this but I really related to your book, we also have lived in South Florida, my firstborn son's name is Patrick, I just took a trip to Ireland(and yes we drove) and our lives have been completely turned upside down by a yellow lab, named Nole. Nole came into our lives four years ago as a 3mo. old puppy and I am happy to report that he has not grown up yet. He is my son Michael's dog who is a devoted Seminole-hence the name Nole. I remember returning home one Sunday after my husband, Mike and I had been fishing all day, we had decided not to kennel Nole since we would be gone most of the day and wanted to give him a chance to roam around. Big mistake! We walked into a living room that looked like it had snowed only to find our couch cushion torn to pieces. Nole had literary shed it into tiny bits of foam. We were so surprised and had never heard of a dog doing this until I read your book. But my favorite Nole story is the fact that he gets car sick. Seriously, he becomes actually green if he has to ride in a car and ends up vomitting all over everything. When he was just a puppy we took him to the mountains for a day of hiking. By the time we got there his color had changed, I jumped out of our truck and opened the back door to let him out but got the surprise of my life. He took one look at me and let go of projectile vomitting which covered me from head to toe. Amazing that a puppy that small could have that much fluid in him. At this point he felt much better, drank some water we had bought for him and ran around the mountain. I got to hike that day covered in dog vomit. Nole is not our only dog, we have Buckley who is eleven, part Lab- part German Shorthair and Bailey who is part Border Collie and we don't know what. So we are a well dogged household. Buckley is older and the last part of your book really hit home with me. I dread the day we have to take him to vet's office for that final ride. I am so excited that they are making a movie about Marley and can't wait to see it. Your wife must be overjoyed that they cast Jennifer Aniston as her in the movie. I would be on cloud nine- I think Jennifer Aniston is one of the most beautiful woman in the world. At any rate, thank you for your wonderful story of Marley. Like yourself, I found it great that there are others out there like our Nole and others out there that are owned by their dogs as this family is owned by our three dogs. People who aren't owned by a dog just don't know what they are missing. Can't wait to read your next book

A story from John Painter Jr. about Casey
posted 07/04/2008

Years ago, I had a German shepherd/St. Bernard cross.

My wife and I were in the kitchen getting ready to make some mac 'n' cheese and had a two-pound block of shard cheddar on the cutting board when there was a horrid crash outside.

We rushed out to look -- a bus had hit a car -- and then returned about 20 seconds later to fiunish fixing dinner.

Casey was lying innocently in a doorway and the block of cheese had vanished. It was nowhere to be found and we were completely baffled.

Then Casey let loose a huge burp and the entire kitchen was engulfed by the smell of the cheddar cheese he had snarfed down.

So much for our dinner...

A story from Martha about Luca
posted 07/04/2008

I have a little dog and I love him so much...He doesn't have the same size and neither has the same behavior Marley, but he is so lovely and intelligent about him. He thrills me with his loyalty, patience and ability to forgive all my fault.

A story from Ivey about Sadie
posted 07/04/2008

I once had a black chow chow named Sadie. I had known her all my life. She was about 4 when I was born in 1997. She acted like my mom and wouldn't let anyone touch me! But later she became older and more bridle. Later she developed arthritis. When she was 11 she could barely get up. When she was twelve she was in so much pain we couldn't take it. We put down before I got home from school. And i still miss have a black ball coming up to lick me ='(

A story from Clary Antome about Diogenes
posted 07/04/2008

Dear Conspecific John Grogan, I'd like to draw your attention to my novel Family Blog, which could be categorized as non-kitschy bleak chick lit with a humorous undertone. It tells the story of a family (three sisters, mother and father) in the form of blogs. Each member of the family is writing without knowledge of all the others. The novel is a satire of family relations and the difficulties of coming of age in the 21st century. By continually reflecting, complaining and speculating about each other's thoughts and actions, the family members provide a web of humorous contradictions, half-truths and outright lies, which the reader is invited to untangle.

For more infos, please visit my website: www.literature-for-aliens.net

REVIEWS:

"A dreadful debut! The author shamelessly mocks all the values our society holds dear: family, love, work. Her cynical undertone is disturbing and demoralizing. Keep this book out of the reach of children!"

(Dora Prude, The Happy Family Daily, London)

"In Family Blog Clary Antome treats us to a journey through the foibles of family life (and human nature generally) in a novel set out in the form of a series of blog entries written by the dramatis personae that make up the fictional Family D..

Full of incisive observations, and shot through with the dark humor that flows from Antome's unique perspective on the absurdities of the human condition, Family Blog made me laugh until I cried. It is a remarkable first novel by a very promising writer."

(David Livingstone Smith, PhD -- Author of "Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind " + " The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War " )

" Spiritually this novel is a failure. The characters at times appear so hopeless, it made me wince. Their blogs invariably revolve around a handful of leitmotivs, such as watching TV, eating, shopping, consuming drugs. Furthermore, I got the impression that the author is not at all able to distinguish between these superficialities and the more noble acts she mentions, such as finding love, raising children, engaging in meaningful work, fighting for freedom and democracy. Whatever the characters do seems to be just another failed attempt to avoid boredom. I presume that most readers will be disgusted by this farce. Fortunately. "

(Sabine Hoffer, Rosa Brille: Magazin für seelische Gesundheit, Berlin )

"If you ask me, Clary Antome is just some anarcho-punk frustrated lesbian. This would explain the terribly wimpy or stupidly brutish male characters who always fail to live up to the arrogant females' expectations. I found her novel very castrating. Totally uncool.

(Ronny Mann, Brain and Muscle Ezine, New York)

"Rarely have I come across such an extreme case of misogyny: all the female characters in this novel are manic-depressive, neurotic or frigid. Not to mention the countless sneering sexist remarks! This dehumanization of women could only have been carried out by an embittered and sadistic male writer."

(Margaret Noble, Female Front Journal, Chicago)

Best regards, Clary Antome

A story from Kim about Chase and Maerick
posted 07/03/2008

I just finnished reading marley and me and i could not put the book down until i finnished! What a fantastic writer! I ran out to rent "The last hoe run" as soon as i finnehed and we're going to sit down and watch it with our 2 labs tonight. We got our boys last year in June, the last two of there litter and love them so much! Although there only a year old and i know they hopefully have a long life of good and sometimes bad behaviour (Eating walls, stealing socks and shoes, slurpping out of the toilet only to come and give us a very slobbery kiss.) Reading this book had made me cherish them and hug them even more then i had before. i already miss them and there still here!

A story from Donna about Mack
posted 07/03/2008

I just started reading Marley and Me this past week while I was at the beach. My sister in law had just finished it and thought I might enjoy it since I also have a Lab. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down - it makes me laugh out loud because I am pretty sure that Mack could possibly be related to Marley. My Mack is a black lab - full blooded, he will be five in November and he has more energy than I know what to do with. He is nearly 100 pounds, full of slober and love. He is so strong when I am petting his belly he starts leaning on me and nearly knocks me down. I can't wait to finish the book and see the movie at the end of the year.

A story from Jennifer about Zack
posted 07/03/2008

I to had a wonderful Lab who graciously stayed with me for 15.5 years. The day I had to say goodbye to him was by far the worst day I have ever experienced in my life. Upon coming home from the vet I took comfort in rereading the passage where poor Marley passed on. Zack was experiencing similar issues that Marley had. In rereading Marley's struggle as well as his family's struggle with the decision at hand, I took a comfort that I was not alone in my pain. Thank you for a wonderful book that I will continue to reread as my pain dulls but will never fully go away.

A story from Abbie about Sadie & Jeb
posted 07/03/2008

Hi John! I am a big fan of you and the book "Marley & Me". I've read the book 2 times already and I love it so much. It is the funniest and the saddest book. My 2 dogs Sadie(german sheperd)7yrs and Jeb(st. Bernard/Black lab)11 monthsare the best dogs. Sadie has pretty bad hips and my mom said she wont be here much longer and that makes very sad every time I hear it. Jeb is just a gobber. The way he sits on the couch is hilarious. It is hilarious because he puts half his butt on it and just leans on it. He also likes to lean on you and is always by your side. L love these dogs both and never want them to leave me! These also arent the only dogs I have ever had I've had 3 before them. I had a golden retriever, black lab, and another german shepard. It was very hard to lose them and I miss them terribly! -Abbie