Dog World: And the Humans Who Live There

by Alfred Gingold

A hilarious excursion through the studied, obsessive, colorful, demanding, occasionally lunatic world of contemporary dog ownership. In the fall of 2001, Alfred Gingold found himself succumbing to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767916611
• ISBN13: 9780767916615
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

diamond in the ruff ruff

Alfred Gingold's book is a must read for anyone who has a dog, lives near a dog or encounters a dog from time to time. Dog World weighs the joys of owning a dog with the cold hard facts one never shares in polite company - ie, the bigger the dog, the bigger the pile. (The etiquette lesson on bags is worth it alone!) Gingold shares with the reader everything about life with a dog that he / she may have suspected or experienced and then, through what clearly was a copious amount of research, boils it down into amusing bits and helpful bits. It is a rare treat to read a book about a dog and his owner which is not the usual treacly fare. Instead, as a recent dog convert, Gingold answers all those questions that people have wondered (who are those people at the Westminster Dog Show wearing the camo-Dachsund sweatshirts?) Though set in NYC, the fact remains that dogs and their owners are the same everywhere, and Dog World is a fabulous and funny way to find out what they (dogs and their owners) actually do all day.

If you can't lick 'em

Being a cat person, I was doubly embarrassed to find myself laughing aloud on public transport (that's one part of "doubly")while holding a book that featured on its cover the enlarged face of a winsome sausage dog(that's the other). Mr. Gingold, a professional humorist but until recently an amateur when it comes to dog-ownership, invites readers to share his first canine acquisition, his introduction to the world of Brooklyn dog owners and the wide world of all things doggish--toys, food, breeding and destruction of personal property. He offers a winning mix of ignorance, curiosity and silliness, teaching the reader as he learns and delighting in many an entertaining digression. It's like walkies for the skull and the funny bone without the pee or steaming piles. Unlike many humorists who wallow in schtick and facetiousness, Mr. Gingold brings wit and schtick into fine balance with info and esoterica, maintaining a light touch even with statistical drivel--by which you may assume that I regard all statistics as drivel, not that I feel Mr. Gingold reduces, or raises, statistics to drivel. My favorite factoid: how useful for poop containment is the blue plastic bag in which the New York Times is delivered (and for those drawn to analogies, honi soit qui mal y pense). But I was sorry the author failed to explain why dogs aren't trained to poop directly into plastic bags, or into small portable toilets that could, without much adjustment, double as headgear for their owners during walkies. Altogether, "Dog World" is a delight, and I wish the author much success.

George rex

Alfred Gingold's great gift -- on vivid display here -- is to find the exact mix of the serious and the funny. Dogs mean a lot to people and yet there's something goofy about otherwise rational adults devoting enormous amounts of time and energy to the welfare of their four-legged little friends. This book is an attempt to figure out just why that should be so, and also why the author is so thoroughly smitten with George, the Norfolk terrier he and his family live with. To read this book is to watch an inquiring mind try to figure out small questions that become larger existential ones -- and all with the humor he's well known for. I have the good luck to know the author and also the pleasure of knowing George. Anyone who reads this book will come to know them both and a good deal more -- about dogs and the world. David Freeman

It's a dog's life!

Hair or fur? Lead or leash? Labrahuahua! - what and why? These are just some of the topics covered in this enchanting book, in which the author invites us to accompany him and his family in their big new adventure - becoming dog owners. With erudition, wit, good humor and affection, Alfred Gingold explores the hitherto unknown world of dogs and the people who own and love them. This book will appeal to dog owners and non-owners alike. It is funny, knowledgable, occasionally controversial and a delight to browse through or devour at a single sitting. Having been a cat person all my life, I just might have to reconsider!

A wonderful read

Alfred Gingold's Dog World is not only for dog lovers--though they will surely love the insights, descriptions, and stories in this book. But while writing so wittily and warmly about the dogs he comes across in his daily walkies and poop scooping, Gingold manages also to make this a book about people--family, friends, artists, breeders, trainers, dog owners, and the long-suffering UPS man. This book actually makes me want to own a dog--a dog who likes to shower? a dog who looks like a teddy bear--how bad can that be? But I may have to settle for looking longingly and with newly-educated eyes at the dogs patrolling my neighborhood. Anyway, it's a warm, charming, witty, AND informative book. Just right to curl up with on a cold winter evening.