My Dog Skip

by Willie Morris

Book Overview

This classic story of a boy, a dog, and small-town America is "a rich experience all around.... Skip turns out to be a dog worth writing about.... I'd take him home in a shot" (The New York Times Book Review).

In 1943 in a sleepy town on the banks of the Yazoo River, a boy fell in love with a puppy with a lively gait and an intelligent way of listening. The two grew up together having the most wonderful adventures. My Dog Skip...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679767223
• ISBN13: 9780679767220
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 4.9" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A Boy and His Dog...

What a wonderful book! Willie Morris is a wonderful storyteller and his re-telling of his childhood with his dog skip is just wonderful. He weaves a story that every pet lover and childhood pet owner can relate to. Willie is 9 years old when he gets Skip and they become inseperable. Skip is like a little brother to Willie who is an only child. Together they have many adventures in the Delta and spend so much time together. Skip is well known throughout the whole town and is pretty much treated like a little person.The reader is transported back into the 40's with Willie and his dog. The imagery is so vivid that you really feel as if you are there. I love books set in this time period when things were so much simpler. Morris' story took me back to that time.I very rarely cry at books, but I bawled at this one. It brought out so many of my childhood memories and I could hardly put it down. The adventures were wonderful, the scenery was vivid, and the characters are some that I will not forget for along time to come. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a little break from our fast paced world and visit Skip's!

Words cannot do this book justice

Willie Morris was one of America's finest 20th century writers, in the same category as William Faulkner. So it is no surprise that, since he wrote a dog book, it is the ultimate dog book ever.Simply stated, MY DOG SKIP is his memoir of his love affair with his dog. Like so many little boys, especially only children, his relationship with his dog was one of the purest, strongest loves that any person can know. In describing their great love, Morris inescapably also must describe his childhood in a small town of the American south, circa 1930. As a direct result of the lyricism of Morris' prose, this book then becomes a perfect snapshot of the slow, honest, rhythms of life in towns like his.The book ends as all these stories do. A tribute, once again, to Willie's skill is that the inevitable does not become maudlin.The movie which was made from this story was extremely well-received. I had read that Mr. Morris had visited the set very shortly before his unexpected death, and that he had proclaimed himself pleased with the film. I am so glad that this gave him pleasure, because he has given so much pleasure to so many readers over the decades.

Fun, simple, enjoyable and heartwarming

What a joy to read. The book really pulls you in to the life of the boy and his pooch. Even though I grew up in a different time and place this book brings back great memories. A must read for all dog lovers and those who love to remember simpler times.

A Wonderful Story

I read this book when it first came out about five years ago. I think it's a wonderful story about a small boy and his best friend. It also is a very good look at what life was like in America, particularly in the South, at a time when things weren't as complicated as they are today and when a kid could really just be a kid. I was born in the early '50's, so I can sort of relate to some of Willie Morris's adventures as a child, even though I grew up in a big city (Memphis, TN). I am currently reading "Spit McGee" and I find it just as cute and charming as "Skip". I can't wait to see the movie. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever owned a dog (I have a 13 year-old beagle) who, while not as energetic as Skip, is just as special to me as Skip was to Willie Morris.

One of the BEST dog stories I've ever read

I LOVED this book. I have owned many a dog in my life and this book summed it all up well. Much better than the usual psychological gibberish about how we humans anthropomorphize our animals... who CARES! They are part of our lives and part of our families (for most of us anyway) and this story draws out all the feelings of love, laughter and loss that each of us who have loved and lost a dog know. It was a great read.