Dog Walks Man: A Six-Legged Odyssey

An experience shared by millions each day, dog walking establishes a bond between people and their pets, and, at its best, allows for a daily period of contemplation and quiet; at its worst, it's an exercise in tedious repetition. Zeaman, an award-winning art critic and children's book author (Before They Were Pets), presents a set of thoughtful, well-written essays about his experience walking Pete, a poodle who draws the family closer together, and helps Zeaman rediscover his childhood sense of wonder, better appreciate nature, and fully explore the wilderness outside his suburban New Jersey front yard. These essays are alternatively humorous and poignant; from analyzing the Meadowlands after a tropical storm ("Pete sloshes through every puddle. Tiny minnows dart and flicker in the shallow water. How'd they get in there? It's like seeing the origins of life.") to struggling to explain a marital separation, Zeaman's relationship with Pete will be instantly familiar to dog lovers everywhere. The author speaks from a place of great affection for dogs, nature, doggie dads (that "brotherhood of dupes"), and New Jersey. (Oct.)