The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain is the February read for the Poudre River Regional Public Library Main Library Book Club.  Before it was chosen for the Book Club this year I was told by my brother and sister-in-law that it was a great book and I needed to read it.  Right before I began reading it a friend told me the same thing.  Why then don't I feel like I read the same book?  I knew that the book was going to be narrated by a dog named Enzo.   I didn't know it was going to make me cry in the first few pages. What surprises me is that this book mentions reincarnation on more than one occasion and I am pretty sure my brother and sister-in-law don't believe in reincarnation for one moment.  They usually don't care for any fantasy element.  So why did they like it?

Enzo fantasizes about talking quite a bit and being a human in another life.  He tells the story of his owner Denny who is working at a BMW dealership while he pursues his dream for becoming a professional race driver. Enzo goes back to his first meeting with Denny and covers his marriage to Eve, becoming a father and the inevitable hardship that drives the rest of the story.  If you really are into car racing there are many references to races, drivers,  and movies about racing that you will enjoy.  There are several poignant moments in the book that drew me in, but I didn't feel a depth to this story that I was expecting.  Maybe my expectations were too high. The movement from past to future and back wasn't handled badly, but I was not caught up in this story, I could easily have put it down and not picked it up for a week or a month.  I felt no urgency to finish it and find out what happened.  Some of it was predictable, but that hasn't prevented me from enjoying a book before.  Unlike other book club choices I hadn't looked up the author on the internet to get more information.  Usually I do this before I finish the book because I want to know more about them and how they came to write their book.  

Here is the Garth Stein's web site address http://www.ravenmoon.com/ .  I'd be interested to hear what other people found or didn't find in this book.