Louise Bernikow

All these dog books are almost enough to make me want to be a dog person! Ms. Bernikow's memoir of Libro was fun to read and poignant, in the way that love and loss always are. I enjoyed the New York aspect - made me want to be a city girl! My only complaint is a general one from running into it too much. Why exactly is it o.k. to disparage people as Republicans? It gets tiring.

Anyone who's ever owned a dog knows that there's a lot more to it than patting Fido and filling up a food dish. It really is an entry into an enormous club, filled with veterinarians, new friends, neighbors you've never known until your dog starts sniffing them, and relatives you thought you knew right up until the time they start giving you unsolicited opinions about ringworm. Louise Bernikow relates her entry into this club with light-hearted humor in her new book Bark If You Love Me.
This show more is a non-fiction book but a light read that is very much like a novel. In the first chapter, Ms.Bernikow does something her mother always warned her not to do: she brings home a strange male. This time, it's a boxer she names Libro. You don't need to own a dog to laugh at the quirky characters she and Libro meet. At times, she realizes with some surprise that she feels motherly toward him. There is a lover (human), and a mystery over Libro's past, but through it all, she laughs gently at herself and learns what a trusting, reliable relationship can mean to a single woman, even if it is with a dog.

Berkinow is a journalist whose writes about women's history and the nature of being single in contemporary society (see: The American Women's Almanac : An Inspiring and Irreverent Women's History.) Her latest book will make you laugh and if you don't own a dog already, might make you think seriously about getting one. show less

I got this book at the free book exchange in town and was pretty excited about it. What happens when Mr Right turns out to have four legs and a tail. Sounds like me and my Puck but I was pretty disappointed. Sure, she learns a lot about dogs but she didn't like dogs at all at the beginning, she really didn't try to find his owner when he was found. She did learn to love him and he was good for her but I just kept thinking that someone was missing him. I do definitely understand the bond show more though and who needs a man when I have a dog. That love that a dog gives you is fantastic. It was a cute story. I guess there is another one. I may read t at some time but at this time, it is not on my TBR list. If it finds its way into my hands, I will probably read it but I won't seek it out. show less

I liked this book because I am unhealthily in love with my dog. But he doesn't bark to tell me he loves me. He is far too respectful to do that. But about this book, I thought the main character was a doormat and let herself get used by men. I would rather be at home with Taz than out with a dirtbag of a date.