J. C. Suares (1942–2013)

Small little gem and a quick read for anyone who loves cats.....which i do!..This photo/story montage just proves the unpredictability of the cat as well as the total misunderstanding of cats in general.....very complex beings! Wonderfully complex beings. Great true stories of untraditional relationships developed by cats and others, be they cat or otherwise, all accompanied by charming photos of them being.....well.....themselves! I actually gave it to my grandmother as a gift many years show more ago, and ended up with it upon the settling of her estate....with my gift notation still intact.....so, this holds a special place beyond the normal. show less

I give it half marks. I can see why they called it an Anthem: Doctorow placed poetic prose in between Suarès's carefully chosen photographs, photographs taken by many different photographers. I didn't get the emotional buzz that I believe they were trying to elicit. My favorite part was in the back of the book where the actual subject of each picture was stated. I doubt very much that the book was produced for people like me - maybe for those folk who live in the "red" states. Anyway, I'm show more currently on prozac and not much gives me an emotional buzz. show less

A charming collection of black and white photos showcasing the life of the urban dog. Just the sort of thing I find enjoyable and cannot resist at the thrift store when the low, low price has been marked down 50%.

I think this sort of collection is a little window onto the world. I get to travel vicariously to places and times I shall never physically see.

Fun quick read. 18 short one page stories that are good, but not great in dog story comparisons. There also is a little cartoon doodle to go with the stories that are reasonably cute and add another $0.05 to the value of the book.

The big plus of this book is the remarkable black & white historical pictures. Here are some of my favorites.
Smokey the Fire Dog, 1942
Partners, 1984 (cop with Shepherd dog in graffiti covered subway car)
Gunnar Kassan & Balto at unveiling of Balto statue in Central show more Park, 1925
Gunnar Kassan & Balto, 1925 (closeup of the two)
Roddy McDowall with Lassie in Lassie Come Home, 1942
Rin-Tin-Tin in Dog of the Regiment, 1927
Robert Perry and his dogs in the Roosevelt, 1909
The dogs of Roald Amundsen's South Pole Expedition at rest, 1911
Fixing a Barrel to a St. Bernard's Collar, St. Bernard Hospice, Switzerland, 1927

There is also a lot of pictures of war dogs in the book from WWI and WWII including my favorite of a Doberman 'Butch guards over Private Rez Hestor's Nap, Iwo Jima 1945.

The pictures make the book worthy to have or at least pick up and read for the 20 - 30 minutes it probably takes. Might also be fun if you are reading another book that includes Balto, or Rin-Tin-Tin, to refer to the picture in this book. show less