A little too dog soppy but great all the same

The Dog Went Over the Mountain
by Peter Zheutlin

Seeing its less than stellar ratings, I'd decided not to put this book on my to-read list. But then I picked it up on the library's "new books" shelf on a days when I'd failed to find any of the other books I was there for. That was an unusual experience--to go in the library for three books that the library's tracking system said were "in" but to find none of them on the shelves. Occasionally this can be expected, but three at once? I don't think so--Murphy was out to get me that day.

So I had low expectations and it was a pleasure to have them contradicted. This was a delight! it could have been deeper, more soul-searching; the journey could have lasted a little longer--six weeks to circle the whole of the continental United States?  He could have repeated himself a little less frequently. But he set out...

to share a lighthearted, heartfelt, and dog-friendly tour of America and, in the process, remind us what remains wonderful and grand and good about it, even as it seems the country is coming apart at the seams.

And that's what he did. I wonder if it's possible that some of the negativity came from peoples' fear?  He does nothing to hide his honest dismay at the hateful politics going on in the country right now (it was published in 2019)?  Or, more likely, from highly religious people who didn't like the way he described driving through the South? He turns on the radio and flips channels one day, switching from a strident woman screeching that "if you don't believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, you cannot be a Christian," to a host proclaiming the joy of sharing his faith, to a man telling Christians to befriend Muslims in their community, but only so they could proselytize to them, to a man speaking of how one must suffer for the faith. He turns off the radio then.

Faith, it seems, allows for no dissent and no deviations from someone else's idea of absolute truth with a capital "T." If what they are pushing was so wonderful, why does it need such a hard sell?"...it was all very oppressive.

I can imagine a person of this faith closing the book right then. I persevered and was rewarded. He makes it to Woody Guthrie's hometown, to Steinbeck's land of broken dreams. And on the way he hears a few stories and sees a few awesome sights. It's not Blue Highways; it's not Travels with Charley and he makes no pretentions that it will be. It's just a good, solid trip report, and I liked it.