Merrill Markoe

Four charming canine characters and a less charming 47-year-old adolescent named Gil form the family unit of this often very funny novel. One day, itinerant handyman Gil discovers his beloved flat-coated retriever Jimmy conducting a workshop of sorts for the neighborhood pooches--and he's understanding every word said. (A running, but not over-played joke is that Gil's girlfriend Sara is a professional animal communicator, very sincere, who always gets things wrong--the dogs complain she show more doesn't really listen.) Three of the dogs are rescues: Cheney, whose whole life revolves around fetch; sweet abused Fruity, who's always certain she'll be beaten or thrown out in the road; and Dink, a goofy dachsund(sp), who just can't get the human rules straight--inside/outside, before/after (Gil complains it's like talking to a drunk). The star, though, is Jimmy, who, raised from puppyhood by Gil, suffers a rude awakening that he's not in fact a dog/human hybrid, but has an actual family somewhere (with Gil's ex-wife, as it happens).

Gil's a jerk--his most appealing quality, beyond his love for his dogs, is his self-awareness, though. He's lousy to his girlfriend, can't keep his hands off his ex, can't keep his eyes of his dog groomer's tits, etc., etc. His life's a spectacular mess for a reason: him. But there are lots of fun riffs here, on family, the frivolous rich, animal blogs (in particular, that I can has cheeseburger crowd), seventies' pop--pretty much you name it. Fun, fast read. show less

I first remembered Merrill Markoe as the head writer for David Letterman's Late Night with David Letterman. She was also in a romantic relationship with Letterman for years. In her collection of humorous essays Cool Calm and Contentious, she recounts in one essay her relationship with an unnamed talk show and how she learned that he had been cheating on her with young staff members. As someone who remembered this scandal, I found how she handled it in the essay brilliant.
She also has essays show more about her narcassistic mother (oh wow, that woman is something), and maybe growing up with her mother helped her deal with a life in show business, and all the difficult personalities she encounters in her work.
I picked this book up because I saw Markoe on HBO's Hacks this season and she is hilarious in her deadpan delivery. It was a good afternoon spent reading it. show less

There may be many (emphasis on "man") people who won't find anything charming or profound in found diaries from 1960s middle school girlhood. If so, bye. But if you relished Alison Bechdel's Fun Home memoir, here's another for you. This graphic novel is so honest and unique that it's a perfect read for any woman, girl, or even grandmother - we have all lived through these times, even if not in the same country or with the same hostile parents and miserable sibling. If you don’t see show more yourself in Merrill, then you could be her mom or her ever-changing best friends or someone who thought her life would truly begin once she moved from Miami to golden San Francisco (where the adolescent problems persisted but just in a cooler setting). Markoe's sometimes disturbing illustrations, her adult perspective on her diaries and on the seemingly unique circumstances of her upbringing - probably more common that she could know at the time - create a remarkable and unsettling reading experience. show less

They say dogs and babies will steal a scene every single time — so be careful concerning when you feature them. Because one well-placed puppy? He’ll completely capitalize on the attention of your audience, forcing everything in the background to blur.

Sadly, I’d say Merrill Markoe’s Walking In Circles Before Lying Down is proof that just isn’t true. Not even a cute dog could divert my focus from all the other bizarre happenings in this Los Angeles-based novel.

Among narrator Dawn show more Tarnauer’s many problems — including a meddling sister, an entrepreneurial mother and a distant jerk of a boyfriend — is one tiny new development: her dog Chuck seems to be talking to her.

Well, he doesn’t seem to be. He is. And Chuck has plenty to say.

Walking In Circles Before Lying Down is a look at Dawn’s life as it slowly, but surely, begins to break down. Newly dumped by her boyfriend Paxton, an arrogant radio DJ, Dawn moves into her little sister Halley’s mobile home in Malibu and takes a job at a local veterinary. A serious dog lover, Chuck serves as Dawn’s closest ally and companion during this turbulent part of her life.

So I guess it should come as no shock that as Dawn struggles with entering a “new phase” in her life, she relies heavily on Chuck to comfort and support her as the Tarnauers, as a group, continually fail her. Halley gives her shelter, sure, but can’t bring herself to help her sister beyond offering some of the same pat “advice” she gives her celebrity clients, some of whom are slightly more than notorious. And Joyce Tarnauer? She’s about as kind and welcoming a mother as an iceberg. An inconsiderate iceberg.

Here’s my problem with this novel: everyone was pretty terrible. The only personality trait the Tarnauers seemed to share came in the form of their selfish, ridiculous behavior. Dawn basically fumbles her way through life, apparently with “doormat” written in lipstick across her face. Dawn’s boyfriend? A self-absorbed loser. And the fact that no one else in Dawn’s family can even be bothered to notice that, except the dog, was really upsetting.

What’s funny is that while I was reading Walking In Circles Before Lying Down, I was actually pretty absorbed in the story — though sometimes jolted by the extreme amount of profanity. Markoe has a snarky, fun writing style, and I would probably pick up another of her novels in the future. But not even intelligent, perceptive talking dogs and the hints at philosophy could save this one for me. show less