Gesualdo
04-02-2008, 08:52 AM
I read The Dogs of Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz on my Palm Pilot. My poor battery. I was turning that thing on every chance I got. On the other hand, it was a really portable book, so I nearly always had it with me. This book was kind of a sequel, I think, to another book he wrote called Good Dog: The Story of Orson, who changed my life. Orson is still a major player in this book, and he is joined by Rose, the puppy, and for a time, by Homer, all Border Collies. Mr. Katz has learned that Border Collies must herd things and therefore need sheep to keep them properly occupied. (So they don't don't try herding school buses, for example.) He buys a sheep farm, in upstate New York or perhaps Vermont, and makes a bunch of new friends while trying to manage this farm during a particularly nasty winter. He talks about what it's like trying to manage sheep, why donkeys are fun creatures after all, what lambing season is like, and how he brought the sheep to church on Easter in order to join the fray.
Although the book is presumably about dogs, the author really uses the dogs to write a book about connecting with people.
Although the book is presumably about dogs, the author really uses the dogs to write a book about connecting with people.