Nose Down, Eyes Up: A Novel

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 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 show more 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

You talk to your dog. You know you do, so you might as well admit it. And it's not all goo goo ga ga baby talk either. No, you engage in conversations composed of complete sentences and abstract thought.

Gil Winowiscz, the forty seven year old hero of Nose Down, Eyes Up talks to his four dogs (Jimmy, Cheney, Fruity, and Dink) as he putters through his days as caretaker and handyman on an estate in Malibu. Then one day he realizes that they talk to him, too. And that he can understand them.

There's been a recent outbreak of books told exclusively or partly from the perspective of a dog (The Art of Racing in the Rain and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle both come to mind), but I'd wager that none of them is as hilarious as Nose Down, Eyes show more Up.

Let's take the title, first. Jimmy, who Gil's raised from a pup, is the alpha dog of the neighborhood. He takes his responsibilities as alpha seriously, and when Gil accidentally crashes a meeting of the dogs he discovers that Jimmy's been giving them lessons in how to manipulate their humans. Nose down eyes up is one of the primary postures--rather yoga-like, if you will--which dogs use to melt our hearts and get us to do what they want. What, you think you really wanted to throw that ball 75 times in a row, sometimes having to wrest it dripping from the mouth of your manipulative pup? Nah, that's just Fido exercising his power over you.

It seems to me, as a dog lover, that Merrill Markoe captures their various voices and levels of understanding perfectly. The book is a romp, but it's also a keen meditation on the importance of love and family--however that family may be configured. You don't have to be a dog lover to love this book; that will just enhance your enjoyment of it. show less

I was a big fan of Markoe's book "Walking in Circles Before Lying Down" and this book didn't disappoint. While her take on relationships is priceless, I dearly love the dialogue with the dogs. Each dog has its own personality (as they do in reality) and I laughed out loud when I read the thoughts that I'm certain my own dogs have had. (I know for a fact that they often think I'm an idiot, but they love me anyway.)

The story is told by Gil, a frequently out-of-work musician/handyman who has four dogs, an ex-wife and a clingy girlfriend. Gil grows over the course of the novel, as do his dogs. For me, the plot mattered less than hearing the conversations between man and dogs. It's very funny, and strangely insightful.

I give this book 2.5 stars. I really enjoyed the parts in the story where the dogs gave their views on the world around them. They explained all the actions humans tend to take for granted and their true meaning. I wasn't particularly interested in Gil's relationship with his girlfriend or his ex-wife. The main interesting point in the story is Gil's relationship with Jimmy who gets very upset when he learns that Gil is not his biological father. This storyline was the saving grace of the story that had me round up to 3 stars.

What if you could really have a two-way conversation with your dog? No, I mean a REAL conversation, you know, where the dog can respond to you and you understand immediately what he's saying, without you having to spend hours figuring out what he means... Nose Down, Eyes Up by Merrill Markoe takes that premise and runs with it, straight into the funniest novel I've read this year.
When Gil discovers that he can understand what his dog is telling the other dogs, he tries to develop the dog, Jimmy, and his advice into a marketable commodity via the internet.

While the premise of this novel is good and the story pretty funny, there were also times I wanted to hit Gil on the head... He was pretty stupid to be getting involved with his ex-wife show more after she had gotten married to someone else, plus, the way he treated his girl friend kept me from being able to respect him as an honorable person... These things, along with the fact that some of Gil's personal life seemed to have little or nothing to contribute to the story kept me from giving this novel the full five stars.

Nevertheless, read this novel if you want some laughs, but only if you can tolerate some stupidity in the main character. This review has simultaneously been posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com. show less

My wife has a standing rule not to read any book that has a cute puppy on the cover. According to her, they can never end well.

But I'm glad I broke this rule for this book. Although the literary technique of "talking animals" is by no means new, the idea that an owner can "communicate" with his dog becomes secondary, and easily forgiven, as the book gives the dog's eye view of life at home.

An easy read with enough substance to keep it from becoming just another bit of fluff literature.

She's funny. But none of the humans in this book were likable enough to make it all worth it. And the dogs were OK, but they weren't my dogs so their repetitiveness wasn't sufficiently cute. Good thing she's funny though.