A Formula One driver's life -- his love story, his losses, his legal battles -- told by his dog, who believes he will be reincarnated as a human and is paying close attention.
About This Book
Enzo, a dog who believes he will be reborn as a human, narrates the life of his owner Denny, an aspiring race-car driver, watching with a dog's love and a philosopher's eye as Denny faces love, loss, a devastating custody battle, and the lessons of the racetrack applied to the harder business of living. Stein writes an emotional, uplifting novel entirely from the dog's perspective, and the conceit works because Enzo is a wonderful narrator, wise, loyal, and limited in exactly the ways that let him see his humans clearly. The racing philosophy, the driver's control in the rain, in the skid, becomes the book's governing metaphor for facing adversity. The pacing is fast, the tone emotional and ultimately hopeful, though it passes through real grief. This is a book for readers who want an emotional, heartwarming story, who love dogs and don't mind having their hearts broken and mended, and who appreciate an uplifting message about resilience delivered with genuine feeling. Readers wanting literary complexity or resistant to sentiment should note the book wears its heart openly and aims squarely for tears; the custody battle and Enzo's own mortality are handled to maximize emotion. What makes it beloved is Enzo's voice and the sincerity of its central metaphor, that the way you drive in the rain, calm, focused, refusing panic, is the way to meet whatever life throws at you. Dog lovers in particular find it devastating and consoling in equal measure. A warm, emotional, life-affirming novel narrated by one of fiction's most lovable dogs, and a reliable choice for readers who want a good, cathartic cry and a hopeful message about endurance.
Who This Is For
Best for readers who want to finish a book feeling better about the world than when they started. The prose is accessible: you can read this quickly and it never asks too much of you. The pacing is balanced, time to breathe between moments that matter. If you're drawn to darker, more complex territory, this may feel slight.
Best Read When
Best read when you're in the mood for something warm and uplifting, and a read that's balanced and absorbing.
What It Explores
The Art of Racing in the Rain explores love in its most complicated forms, family in all its complexity — inherited and chosen, loss and what remains after it, and identity and the gap between who we are and who we pretend to be.
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