They say a dog's love is unconditional, which is what makes them man's best friend. What if his dog were a man's only true friend?
For Paul Gustavson, a hack writer for the wildly popular For Morons series, life is a succession of obstacles. His wife has left him, his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, his girlfriend is dating another man, he has impotency issues, and his overachieving brother invested his parents' money in stocks that tanked. Still, Paul has his friends at Bay State bar, a steady line of cocktails, and a new pair of running shoes (he's promised himself to get in shape). And then there's Stella, the one constant in his life, who give him sage advice, doesn't judge him, and gives him unconditional love. However, Stella won't accompany Paul into his favorite dive bar. "I'll roll on dead carp, I'll even eat cat turds, but that place grosses me out." Stella, you see, is Paul's aging Lab-shepherd mix, and she knows Paul better than he know himself.
"I thought you were dead," is what Stella says when Paul comes home late, which he is more often than not.
At first, I thought I was reading a book about an average man having a mid-life crisis. Why in heaven's name was I reading this? Oh, that's right, ROB told me it was brilliant. Really, Rob? Middle aged man having trouble getting it up? You matched ME to this book? I trust in Rob's book-matching skills, so I persevered. Actually, I wasn't able to give up on it, no matter how I tried, something was tugging at me to keep reading.
At a certain point, I realized that I was reading a book about love, friendship, and family. It all sneaks up on you instead of hitting you in the face, which makes it all the more clever. Only upon reflection did I appreciate the brilliance of the work. This man, Paul Gustavson, can't talk to anyone - doesn't know what to say to his ex-wife, struggles with IMing his father after he suffered a stroke, and stumbles through conversations with his shared girlfriend. The only open and honest conversations he has are with Stella, his dog. Stella, good dog that she is, talks back, gives him good advice, and calls him out when he's being a schmuck. She knows when he's lying to himself, and doesn't let him get away with it.
Now, I know all you dog owners (and many of you cat owners too) have "voices" for your pets. You're a little nutty, but I'm okay with that. Let's just say I want in, but I want Stella. She's one smart dog.
I Thought You Were Dead: A Love Story by Pete Nelson is the featured IndieNext pick for April.
If you live in and around New Jersey, Pete Nelson is coming to Clinton Book Shop April 17, 2010 (click for more info).
Pete Nelson lives with his wife and son in Westchester, New York. He got his MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1979 and has written both fiction and non-fiction for magazines. Recently he was a contributing editor and feature writer for Wondertime, a Disney parenting magazine. He's published twelve young adult novels, including a six-book series about a girl named Sylvia Smith-Smith which earned him an Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. His young adult non-fiction WWII history, Left For Dead (Randomhouse, 2002) about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis won the 2003 Christopher award as was named to the American Library Association's 2003 top ten list. His novel The Christmas List was published by Rutledge Hill Press in 2004. He wrote, with former army counterintelligence agent Dave DeBatto, a four book series of military thrillers, including CI: Team Red (2005), CI: Dark Target (2006), CI: Mission Liberty (2006) and CI: Homeland Threat (2007) published by Time-Warner. A More Unbending Battle; The Harlem Hellfighters' Struggle for Democracy in WWI and Equality at Home, was published in 2009 by Basic Civitas books.
Learn more about Pete Nelson here.
About the Book
I Thought You Were Dead: A Love Story by Pete Nelson
Hardcover: 264 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books (April 13, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1565125975
ISBN-13: 978-1565125971
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1 comments:
"I Thought You Were Dead" sounds like a great book and one my cat would enjoy too. :-) She and Stella seem to have a lot in common.
When you're ready for another book, I just finished Her Mother's Diary by David Curry Kahn that was a real surprise. I had much the same reaction in the beginning that you did in read ITYWD: "Why in the world would I read this?" But then when Allison Etcheverry's father is murdered after he kills her mother, and Allison is determined to find the money her parents were fighting over to realize her mother's dream of helping young children of drug runners, I was hooked. The theme of "believing" in yourself, your dreams, and life underlies all her challenges and makes for an inspiring message.
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