Izzy and Lenore
by Jon Katz
Surprising! Jon Katz has done it again. By sheer, brutal honesty he's dragged his success and failure and depression and slow recovery out into the light of day, and wound the threads into a gripping story. And central to it all, are the dogs who saved him--Izzy and Lenore. Izzy is a border collie with sad backstory, and their "getting acquainted" period reminded me of my early days with Izzy. My Izzy didn't throw up in the car, though. She pooped everywhere in the house, had recurring diarrhea, refused to eat, tore up the wall of the dining room, and had to be carried down the steps to go outside. She took it hard; his Izzy worse. I just love dog stories!
And Izzy eventually becomes a hospice dog--that's a story that would make the book all by itself.
Lenore is a silly little lab puppy who helps Jon recover simply by unconditional acceptance, lots of wet kisses, and just plain old bouncy puppyness.
My only (hesitant) criticism is that Mr. Katz repeats himself a bit too much. I'm surprised an editor didn't trim some of that out--but then, maybe an editor did, and this is what's left to supply continuity to his thoughts.
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