Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show

In this offbeat report, memoirist Tomlinson (The Elephant in the Room) delves into the eccentricities of the dog show world. Focusing on the efforts of handler Laura King and her Samoyed, Striker, to win the 2022 Westminster Dog Show, Tomlinson describes the grooming, training, and traveling that went into making Striker a circuit champion and provides a play by play of his performance at Westminster, where he won the working group but lost best in show after getting distracted and “dancing around.” Tomlinson revels in the peculiarities of dog shows, discussing how handlers pay trade magazines hundreds of dollars’ worth of “for your consideration” ads in advance of events and study up on judges’ preferences to determine which shows they stand the best chances of winning. Tomlinson regards the proceedings with jocular bemusement (he describes the camper-filled lots outside of shows “as something like the eternal caravan of Deadheads, except fueled by boxed wine and Big Macs more than LSD and falafel”), and even digressive tangents exploring, for instance, the surprising frequency of French bulldog abductions (the breed’s anatomy makes it difficult for them to reproduce, and so a puppy can sell for as much as $30,000) enthrall in Tomlinson’s capable telling. Fans of Best in Show will want to add this to their shelf. Agent: Sloan Harris, CAA. (Apr.)