fall-2008 - PAWS Chicago

Book Review
Marley
&
Me
by Karen O’Shaughnessy
“
I have this theory…that people can learn a lot from
their dogs. Lessons on how to lead happier, more
fulfilling lives. Lessons for successful relationships.
Think about it. Many of the qualities that come so
effortlessly to dogs – loyalty, devotion, selflessness,
unflagging optimism, unqualified love – can be
elusive to humans.
John Grogan, Author of Marley & Me
“
If human beings find the moral fabric of their lives through
example, then loveable Labrador Retriever Marley, is The
Great Teacher. Although Michigan-born author, John Grogan’s
journalistic career in newspapers and magazines provided him
with countless stories and opportunities to experience life and
all its lessons, the most important lessons seem to come from
a dog he acquired “for a bargain” during the first year of his
marriage. Through Marley, Grogan and his wife, Jenny, learn
to navigate through the freedom and independence of newlywed
life to the deeper side of love—through compromise and
acceptance, in good times and in bad.
As Grogan and Jenny move through life’s challenges
(changing jobs, relocating, conceiving a child, miscarriage, post
partum depression and illness), Marley faithfully moves with
them. When their hearts break after a miscarriage, Marley’s head
hangs in sympathy. And when they discover they’ve conceived
again, it is Marley who steals the pregnancy test results then
gives himself away by dancing his signature “Marley Mambo”—
tail-wagging so vigorously it shakes his entire back half!
In no way, however, is Marley the perfect dog. An obedience
school reject, his dirty deeds test the couple’s patience and good
will as much as his unconditional love teaches them! Although
totally without malice, Marley is, as Grogan describes him, “the
world’s worst dog”! So bad, that the obedience class instructor,
whom Grogan refers to as Miss Dominatrix, uses Marley as an
example of “what not to do” before expelling him. He is
neurotic, with a fear of thunder so intense that the vet describes
him as mentally ill and prescribes doggie Xanax to keep him
from hurting himself during storms when he plows through
drywall and chews off doorknobs in the Grogan household. He
shreds screen doors, gouges couches, and ingests fine jewelry.
And Marley is social, if not socially skilled, as the Grogan’s
horrified neighbors witness one sunny afternoon as the
97-pound wrecking ball drags a food-laden restaurant table
half a mile down a crowded Florida beach to his canine friends.
The dog brazenly goes after what he wants in the name of fun,
(nearly ousting himself from the Grogan family in the process),
forcing the couple to redefine their idea of a “loveable” dog.
This redefined idea of what it means to love and be loveable
is the message Marley & Me drives home. Marley is easy to love,
not because he’s cute and entertains, but because his misdeeds
and weaknesses make the end result of loving him so sweet –
because they become better people.
Marley & Me is now a major motion picture, scheduled to
be in theaters on December 23, 2008.
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