World's Worst Dog Scooped

One of the problems I have about the idea of either of these books is that there is such a thing as the “world's worst dog.” I've read most of Marley & Me (sort of had trouble finishing it, knowing that the dog dies in the end), and I don't see anything especially “worst” about this dog except that he's misunderstood as a dog.

Rex and the City : A Woman, a Man, and a Dysfunctional Dog
Lee Harrington

I guess I'm going to have to finish reading it now that I've whined about it. Anyway, here's an account of the final editing days of Rex and the City : A Woman, a Man, and a Dysfunctional Dog by Lee Harrington at Salon.com:
Salon.com Life | Pooper scooper: four months before my book was due to publish, another book came out, one that had almost the exact same premise as the one I had just written. Both are memoirs about life with the world's worst dog. As I handed in the final draft to my editor, rave reviews of the other book appeared in Publisher's Weekly and The New York Times. While I was hunkered down in the first stages of copy edits, the other book hit the bestseller list and the author appeared on CNN. On the very day I approved the final pass of my copy-edited draft, I poured myself a celebratory glass of wine and turned on the radio and heard a well-known broadcaster interviewing the other author, asking him to explain the sensation his book has created. How is it possible, she asked -- with uncharacteristic flirtatiousness -- to sell a so many copies of a book about a dog?

At that point, the wine tasted so bitter my cheeks puckered.

Marley & Me : Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
John Grogan

A bit of her essay is whining too, but I don't blame her. Every dog writer in the nation is probably a little jealous of Marley (and yes, I include myself). We've all had our share of bitter wine. But honestly, I'm kind of happy about the whole turn of events (even though my next book is about cats), because I believe in the cliches about the bobbers on a rising pond, &c. (It's bobbers, isn't it? And ponds? Or puddles? Was it water skimmers on a bucket of water? Whatever...you likely know what I'm talking about. I think.) People like to read about dogs, don't they? Do you? Listening to “Calidoscopico” by Dizzy Gillespie from the album Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods on badgeitunes61x15lite.gif

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