Caroline Knapp (1959–2002)

I've been reading the essays in this book off and on for a few months now and just finished them. Knapp's writing is, I hesitate to say it, but, well, it's addictive. I could never read "just one," because the essays are all so GOOD. Like potato chips, you might say, but whole-grain healthy, chips, if there is such a thing. There are things in here that are simply so funny that they could easily be adapted to stand-up comedy, stuff you might hear at The Improv, ya know? Knapp has that kind show more of pitch-perfect command of the language of real life, and the timing of the delivery is also just perfect. Except Caroline Knapp was, I have learned, an extremely shy person, plagued her whole life by various insecurities and addictive, even destructive, behavior patterns - things like alcoholism and anorexia, which she wrote about in her other books. I have only read one of her other books, the one about her dog, Pack of Two, which I literally devoured, it was such an exquisitely written memoir of what it means to to love a dog and be loved back. I am a collector of "dog books," and that one ranks up there with some of my favorites, like Ackerley's My Dog Tulip and Hal Borland's The Dog Who Came to Stay, or Merle's Door. If you are a dog person and have not yet read Knapp's Pack of Two, then run - don't walk - to your nearest book store and pick up a copy. You'll love it.

Caroline Knapp's essays here will make you laugh, but they will also make you wince in empathy. But in the end you will probably be left feeling sad, because Knapp's writing voice has been forever stilled. She died of cancer in 2002. She was only 42. These essays do constitute a kind of record of her life though, so read 'em and weep - and laugh. And remember a wonderful writer.

Knapp's close friend Gail Caldwell has recently published a memoir of their friendship. It's called Let's Take the Long Way Home. I haven't read that book yet, although I plan to. But I noticed that one of the Amazon reviewers complained that she didn't really feel Caldwell's book brought her to "know" Knapp very well. Well, if she really wants to "know" Caroline Knapp, then she should read this collection, The Merry Recluse. I recommend it highly. It is indeed, "A Life in Essays." I am so grateful that all these columns and other pieces were gathered together here. Terrific stuff! show less

PACK OF TWO is simply one of the best damn books ever written about dogs and the various roles they play in our lives. I first read it over twenty years ago. Our dog of sixteen years had recently died and we got a new puppy from the local pound. Our kids were all grown and gone, and that pup, Daisy, became perhaps the most doted-on dog in the world. We loved her so for all of the fourteen years she was with us. Caroline Knapp's moving story of how her dog Lucille impacted her life was a book show more I "got," never mind that she was a recovering alcoholic and fearful of close relationships. All of the misgivings, hopes and fears she worked out with the help of Lucille, well yeah, I understood what she was talking about. And now, twenty years later, as we cohabit with two completely different dogs, in a different town and state, Knapp's story touched me all over again. And I was additionally astounded at the enormous amount of research that went into the writing of this book, something I hadn't thought much about my first time through it, probably because I was so deeply affected by Knapp's own personal journey with her Lucille. But then, Knapp was a professional jounalist, and a damn good one too. Later on I read her essay collection, THE MERRY RECLUSE, filled with excellent pieces giving you further glimpses into her troubled life. Sadly, Caroline Knapp died not many years after her best-selling PACK OF TWO was published, a victim of cancer. She was just 42. But this book is a lovely legacy. If you love dogs, I cannot recommend it highly enough. RIP, Caroline, and thank you.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, REED C ITY BOY show less

I first this book not long after I left rehab (for drinking, of course) on the seventh day. I would occasionally read it again during periods of sobriety - and heavy drinking. I've never read a book on alcoholism quite like it but now that I've been sober for almost nineteen months, I don't think I can read it again if I want to stay sober. Let me explain...it's such a wonderful, fascinating, hypnotic book, that for an alcoholic to read such detailed chapters about drinking and the obsession show more of it might make me want to take a drink. Until I read this book I thought I was the only alcoholic that truly LOVED drinking and all of its rituals. I also thought I was the only alcoholic that thought about the good drinking memories I had and not just the ones concerning sickness, jail, car accidents and broken relationships. I was saddened to read that a few years after this book was published, Caroline Knapp died of lung cancer (her father and mother both died of cancer). She was a wonderful, thoughtful writer and I hope she is at peace. show less

At the age of 36, Caroline Knapp, author of the acclaimed bestseller Drinking:A Love Story, found herself confronted with a monumental task: redefining her world. She had faced the loss of both her parents, given up a twenty-year relationship with alcohol, and, as she writes, "I was wandering around in a haze of uncertainty, blinking up at the biggest questions: Who am I without parents and without alcohol? How to form attachments, and where to find comfort, in the face of such daunting show more vulnerability?" An answer materialized in the most unlikely form: that of a dog. Eighteen months to the day after she quit drinking, Knapp stumbled upon an eight-week-old puppy at a local animal shelter, took her home, and named her Lucille. Now two years old, Lucille has become a central force in Knapp's life: "In her," she writes, "I have found solace, joy, a bridge to the world."Caroline Knapp has been celebrated as much for her fresh insight into emotional and psychological issues as she has been for her gifts as a writer. In Pack of Two, she brings the same perception and talent to bear on the rich, complicated terrain of human-animal relationships. In addition to mining her own experience with Lucille, Knapp speaks to a wide variety of dog people--from animal behaviorists and psychologists to other owners whose dogs have deeply affected their lives--about this emotionally complex, sometimes daunting, often profoundly healing alliance. Throughout, she explores the shift in canine roles from working partners to intimate companions and looks, too, at how this new kinship, this wordless bond, becomes a template for what we most desire ourselves. show less