| Title | : | Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1250261872 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781250261878 |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 249 |
| Publication | : | First published April 21, 2020 |
| Awards | : | Maine Literary Award Memoir (2021) |
This is a book about dogs: the love we have for them, and the way that love helps us understand the people we have been.
It’s in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can best now take the measure of the child I once was, and the bottomless, unfathomable desires that once haunted me.
There are times when it is hard for me to fully remember that love, which was once so fragile, and so fierce. Sometimes it seems to fade before me, like breath on a mirror.
But I remember the dogs.
In her New York Times opinion column, Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote about her relationship with her beloved dog Indigo, and her wise, funny, heartbreaking column went viral. In Good Boy, Boylan explores what should be the simplest topic in the world, but never is: finding and giving love.
Good Boy is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman—accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. “Everything I know about love,” she writes, “I learned from dogs.” Their love enables us pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs Reviews
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The Written Review
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Jennifer Finney Boylan, a New York Times opinion columnist, often wrote about her dog, Indigo, in her column.
My days have been numbered in dogs,But if you ask me, the magic of dogs is not that their love for us is unconditional. What's unconditional is the love that we have for them.
In her third (maybe fourth?) memoir, Good Boy, she explores life through the lens of her dogs.
From her childhood as Jimmy Boylan to her transition to Jennifer, she's always had a dog (or several) pitter-pattering around.
Significant life events are redefined by the four-legged friends which joined her life in this latest memoir..And so we became a family of three dalmatians, each one slightly more insane than the one that had come before.
Soooo...I haven't read her previous memoirs so I was going into this book completely blind to her life and legacy.
And I'm really starting to think I should've read up on her more before starting this one.
The method of storytelling felt very...disjointed.
We'd jump forward in time, backwards in time and then would circle back to events that happened in previous chapters.
Considering I didn't have a base knowledge on her life, I found this book difficult to follow. I was constantly struggling to understand what is happening or what happened.
In addition...I really was expecting more dogs in this one.
There are seven sections, each supposedly dog themed but less than 1/4 of each section actually talked about the dogs.
And even then, the dogs seemed like an after thought.
When you pick up a dog-themed memoir, there are a few things you'd expect - humorous anecdotes. poignant/reflective moments and a good cry once your favorite dog passes.
I felt nothing.
The dogs were so fleeting in this book that I barely had any time to connect (emotionally) to their story before we'd be jumping all around in the timeline again.
And even then the moments that were focused on felt...weird. Like long paragraphs about one of the dog's goober-leaking eyes, or how Matt the Mutt kept humping everything or the first dalmatian would have huge/distracting boners.
It wasn't the cute moments or the sweet moments I was expecting from a book titled "Good Boy".
Maybe if I was a huge fan of hers, I'd love this extra sneak peek at her life (to round out her other 3-4 memoirs) but as a first-time reader of her....I left this one feeling dissatisfied and disappointed.
With thank you to Simon and Schuster and Jennifer Finney Boylan for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Throughout Jimmy’s childhood, he felt torn between loving alone time and aching from emptiness. It’s easy to understand the left-out feeling of one sibling when the rest of the family is off, rallying around the other child. He was genuinely proud of his sister and her mad equestrian skills and obviously his parents had to get her, and her horse, to the shows. He could have joined them; he chose not to. Inevitably, the weekends alone could feel downright lonely. Even with canine company.
But there was another reason. Jimmy didn’t exactly understand it himself, nor did he crave the contemplation needed to attempt to articulate the strong, something-is-not-right gnawing. He more than made up for it by being immensely entertaining, even allowing for a bit of eccentricity.
Based solely on a shared, whole-hearted adoration for all of the dogs, I expected to enjoy this memoir. I did not anticipate being so enamored with the author. I felt a kinship, in an I-want-to-be-that-true kind of way. I can easily imagine an encounter with Ms. Boylan wherein I would enthusiastically profess my fondness for her latest book and then immediately ask if I could pet her dog. I’m sure she’ll have one with her.
This review was written by jv poore for Buried Under Books, with huge thanks to Celadon Books for the Advance Review Copy to go to my favorite classroom library. -
In Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs, Finney Boylan pays tribute to each of the dogs she’s shared a home with. She can’t always remember all her feelings, but she remembers the dogs. I think so many of us can relate to that. Several of my memories are earmarked by the beloved pets I had at the time.
Finney Boylan’s book is about “how a young boy became a middle-aged woman - accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs.” It’s a beautiful, contemplative memoir, and the author has another, She’s Not There, I think I’ll read, too.
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog:
www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram:
www.instagram.com/tarheelreader -
A Brilliant, Evocative Memoir
Jennifer Finney Boylan’s life has revolved around her dogs and in her memoir, she writes of how her love for the dogs she has owned, helped shape her life and allowed her to accept herself.
Jennifer Finney Boylan knew at a very young age that the body she grew up in did not match the person she was. Through the love she gave and received from her dogs, she was finally able to speak her truth to her family and the world.
Growing up as a young boy, Jennifer knew something was off. With each passing year, Boylan only felt real surrounded by dogs. Boylan had conversations with each of them and answered for them. I personally thought their conversations were nothing short of insightful. A former dog owner, I often smiled and laughed and thought to myself, “Yes, I knew that’s what they were saying!” Even now, thinking back over the memoir, I am amazed at how astute Boylan’s observations about her dogs were and how those observations impacted her later on in life.
What I loved about this memoir was its message: love and self-acceptance. What on earth is more important than that?
A huge thank you to Celadon Books and Jennifer Finney Boylan for the arc.
Published on Amazon and Goodreads on 10.1.20. -
Jennifer Finney Boylan is an American author, transgender activist, professor at Barnard College, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.
Jennifer Finney Boylan
Jennifer was born James Boylan in 1958, and lived life as a male for 42 years before transitioning to female. Jennifer has written many books, both novels and autobiographical books.
In this memoir Jennifer connects events in her life to the dogs she owned over the years. The canines were a mixed bunch both in appearance and personality, and Jennifer tells us about their dispositions, behavior, and 'thoughts' - which range from hilarious to poignant.
I was touched, for example, by an orphaned black lab named Chloe who went home with Jennifer for an overnight try-out. Jennifer writes, "Chloe spent hours that first day going to every corner, sniffing things out. At the end of the day she sat down by the fireplace and gave me a look. 'If you wanted', she said, 'I would stay with you.' And Chloe stayed. 🙂
*****
James Boylan grew up in Pennsylvania with his parents and older sister Cyndy, and knew from childhood that he was different than other boys. When James' folks enrolled him in Haverford High School, which was all male, he said he didn't want to go because he'd miss his friends. The real reason, as the author recalls "was not one that I could speak out loud. I could barely even whisper it to myself, because who could want the thing that I wanted?"
During James' boyhood, the family dog was a Dalmatian named 'Playboy', who disliked everyone but James' dad Richard, who would roll on the floor with Playboy and rub his belly.
Playboy was "a resentful hoodlum" who chased motorcycles, bit people, and left piles of poop in the living room - which James' infinitely patient mother Hildegarde cleaned up. Nevertheless Playboy deigned to accompany James into his 'ROBOTRON 9000 THE ANSER MACHINE' (sic), made from a refrigerator box. There James would sit, waiting to answer questions submitted on index cards, rather than going out to play like other boys.
James felt 'wrong' and thought the only strategy for getting by was to "just try to make the best of things" because, back then, he couldn't imagine how a person would change. Thus James had male friends and did boy things, and the book contains memorable stories from those days. For instance, one time, as James and his friend Lloyd were chasing Playboy through the woods, they came upon an old milk house where lesbians were kissing.....a fascinating sight to the young boys.
On his eleventh birthday James acquired a Dalmatian puppy named Penny, and his sister Cyndy got a Dalmatian puppy named Chloe. Penny "had a hunger that could not be assuaged", ate her food and Chloe's, and was soon "the size and shape of a beer keg", which resulted in her being nicknamed Sausage.
James dearly loved Penny, but she only tolerated him in return. The author writes, "I figured if I kept being sweet to Penny all the time, eventually her heart would open, and she would love me as I loved her. No one told me this is never how it works."
A few years later, the family moved to a haunted house in Devon, Pennsylvania (which is the subject of another book). In Devon James inner comedian emerged, to the endless delight of his sister. Cyndy would invite over her cool friends, and James would do impressions of celebrities, play the piano, make up songs, imitate people, and make everyone laugh. Being a teen by now James got crushes on girls, but they didn't like him back 'that way.' James may have been laughing on the outside, but was unhappy on the inside, and - before he transitioned - contemplated suicide more than once.
By the time James was a student at Wesleyan College, his parents had acquired 'Matt the Mutt', who whizzed on walls and humped everything in sight.
On one occasion, James' father came home from work and Matt the Mutt created a ruckus and pissed on his dad's briefcase. The author writes, "Nooooo, says my mother. My father reaches for his briefcase, but he gets dog piss on his hand, and now Dad is yelling and my mother is shouting and Matt the Mutt is barking some more and leaping into the air"....and Penny the Dalmatian is upstairs philosophizing about the whole business.
James admits to not always being the most sensitive dog owner vis a vis Penny, but forgiveness may be in order because of James' immaturity and troubled youth.
James always had a loving extended family and the author includes many anecdotes about them. At a Thanksgiving dinner, for instance, Gammie whipped out the fake boob she wore since her mastectomy.......
…….and Matt the Mutt energetically humped Aunt Gertrude's leg.
When James was a young man he had romances with girls, but remained essentially unfulfilled. The author writes, "Something in me had already been trained to think of myself as fundamentally undeserving of love, and in years to come when women would say Je t'aime or it's equivalent, my first reaction was to think, Yeah, well. That's only because you don't know me well enough."
By 1985 James was living with his girlfriend Rachel in New York City. The author recalls, "Even now it still seemed possible that I might be somebody different, if only I were loved deeply enough." Rachel didn't like dogs, but James' parents now had a chocolate lab called Brown.
James hoped the dog would turn out to be sane - unlike the family's previous pooches - but no such luck. Brown chewed her own paws, a condition called 'lick granuloma.' The author notes, "I'd seen dogs who had this problem before, of course, dogs who start in on their paws and wind up obsessed and deranged, as if their paws are the dog equivalent of right-wing talk radio."
By now James' father's was very ill with cancer and James was preparing to attend graduate school at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. James hoped this would be a "not dishonorable' way of getting out of the relationship [with Rachel] without having to actually break up." The author admits to slipping into a wig store when Rachel was away and notes, "It wasn't her fault that I'd decided that I could not be myself with her. But then, if I'd shared my heart with Rachel, what would she have said?"
When James got to Johns Hopkins, he embarked on a series of affairs with women, observing, "I think one reason I had all these serial affairs was that the moment a woman got close to me, I realized I had to either tell her the truth about my bifurcated soul or else just have a relationship based on a lie."
During that time James visited his family in Devon frequently, as his father got sicker and Brown continued to 'jones for her paws.' But when James needed comfort, Brown put her soft face in his lap and suggested "You are not nothing. No one is nothing, if they know love."
Almost a decade later, in 1993, James was married to a woman named Dierdre Finney and living in Maine. By now James had published a book, was teaching at Colby College, and had inherited a Gordon Setter named Alex from his friend Zero.
Alex
Talking about being married, the author writes, "I cannot explain how Deirdre got through to me when so many other women had not. All I can say is that I loved her more deeply than anyone I had ever known.....But I did not open my heart to her entirely." James and Dierdre shared a deep love for the Gordon Setter Alex, who was indeed a good boy.
Afterwards, in 1999, James and Dierdre got another dog called Lucy - a (sort of) Golden Retriever.
Lucy
Lucy was there for the birth of James and Dierdre's two sons Zach and Sean. However, since Lucy spent her first months on a heavenly (to her) pig farm, she was never content in the Boylan family home. In fact, Zach wrote a paper for grade school entitled "Our Dog Hates Us.
On one occasion, when Dierdre and the boys were away, James received a package from Frederick's of Hollywood. James went upstairs to get dressed and when he came downstairs - with make up, dress, wig, and high heels - Lucy the dog stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up. James asked Lucy, "Do you want to go for a walk?" And the dog lifted her head, uncertain, and thought, "That's what you're wearing?"
Soon afterward James confided in Dierdre about his true nature, and transitioned to Jennifer (which is the subject of another book).
James Boylan transitioned to Jennifer Finney Boylan
Jennifer Finney Boylan (right) and her wife Deirdre
In 2005, after Lucy was gone, Jennifer, Deirdre, and the boys - now nine and eleven - decided to get another dog. Jennifer suggested a bloodhound; Dierdre suggested a rescue dog; Zach suggested a pug; and Sean wanted a puppy. The family finally settled on a black lab puppy, and called it Ranger.
When little Ranger was about to pee on the kitchen floor, Jennifer scooped him up to dash outside, and tripped on the stairs from the deck to the ground. Jennifer writes, "The three-month-old puppy fell out of my grasp, and he traveled through space, rotating gently until he landed. I crashed to the earth a second later, right on my rib cage." Seconds later the family rushed outside, right past Jennifer to the puppy.
"Is he okay?" Deirdre shouted.
"Ranger, are you all right?" the boys asked.
Then they happily reported to Jennifer, who was laying there like a dead thing, "Don't worry, Ranger's fine." 🙂
The family survived Jennifer's transition, but it wasn't easy - largely because of fears the outside world would react with violence and cruelty. However, the family was bound together with at least two things: Jennifer's homemade pizza and Ranger.
Jennifer Boylan with her wife Deirdre and their sons Zach and Sean
"Having a father who became a woman helped make my sons into better men. It taught them kindness; it taught them the importance of being yourself; it taught them to stick up for the underdog."
By 2017, Zach and Sean were grown and gone, and Chloe the black lab was part of Jennifer and Deirdre's household.
At this time the family headed to New York City, where Jennifer would join the faculty of Barnard College. More surprises were in store for the Finney-Boylan clan, and - as always - their mutual love helped them move forward together.
I've provided a taste of the book's contents, but there are many more stories, which range from sad and touching, to uplifting and encouraging, to uproarious and laugh-out-out loud funny. A takeaway from the book is that life is better when you share your love with friends, family, and dogs.
My major criticism of the book would be that the author jumps around in time, so the story isn't strictly chronological. This is confusing at times, and seems like an unnecessary complication.
Overall I enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to interested readers.
You can find interviews with Jennifer Finney Boylan online, as well as her TED talk and other videos.
Thanks to Celadon Books and the author (Jennifer Finney Boylan) for a copy of the book.
You can follow my reviews at
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This is a bit of a tricky one to rate because while I think the writer is talented and I enjoyed quite a few parts of this memoir, I also struggled at times. My main issue is there was a lot of bouncing around and I felt like I kept losing focus while reading. I wish this could have been more of a smoother reading experience.
Jennifer Finney Boylan is a professor, transgender activist, and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. Her 2003 memoir, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, was a bestseller and she has made appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, and The Today Show to name a few. Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs is her third memoir and takes the reader through the different stages of her life from boyhood, manhood, and finally embracing womanhood. There are 7 parts to this book and each one features a different dog that was in her life during some key moments.
I haven't read the author's first memoir but I would love to get my hands on a copy because I think she is fascinating and I would love to learn more about her. Some of the dogs she owned were more heavily featured in parts than others. I thought she brought up a great point near the beginning of the book about how we think of dogs as having unconditional love but we as humans have unconditional love for our dogs. I think this is something any animal lover can relate to whether or not you have dogs.
The seventh part of this memoir was my favorite but I did think there were some touching and reflective moments throughout the book. I loved the openness and honesty which is such a key element to any memoir. I might not have enjoyed the execution at times, but I am glad I got a chance to read this one.
Thank you to Celadon Books for sending me an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review! -
3.5 stars
This is one of those books that I struggled a bit to rate, mostly because the writing was uneven in some parts – it’s hard to describe, but the closest explanation I can give is that the author, Jennifer Finney Boylan, would be describing a scene from her childhood, but then interrupt that scene with thoughts on something else related to it, then come back much later and attempt to finish describing the scene (I say “attempt” because there were a few times where I felt like I was left hanging, as I didn’t recall reading about how a particular scene ended). This made Boylan’s story a little hard to follow at times, which is a pity because her story is a fascinating one and being a dog-lover myself, I loved the premise of Boylan recounting her journey through the dogs she had owned at different stages of her life. With all that said though, aside from the jumping back and forth, I did like Boylan’s writing style overall, as I found it witty and engaging – not only that, I also admire how Boylan never shies away from being brutally honest about her experience and is able to express so candidly (and eloquently) her thoughts about the most difficult moments in her life.
One of the things I appreciate most about this memoir is the fact that, as a transgender woman, Boylan’s life is obviously very different from mine, but yet, many of the feelings and emotions she struggled through on her journey were things that I could absolutely relate to – for example: love for and obligation to family, to the point of sacrificing our own individual needs to fulfill theirs; the constant battle between being true to ourselves versus conforming to society’s norms in order to be accepted; the blurred lines between being “happy” versus being “content”; the reality that human emotions are, by nature, contradictory and complex, etc. There was a lot of potential with this one and I think if the book had been structured a little differently, it would’ve been a lot more powerful. Or perhaps the fact that this is Boylan’s third memoir and not having read her first two memoirs (which my understanding is that she recounts her journey in much more detail), this may be the reason why I felt a bit lost reading this one. I would definitely be interested in reading Boylan’s first memoir, entitled She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (published back in 2003), as it would perhaps help fill in the gaps for me.
Overall, I’m glad I got the chance to read this one. I’m a huge advocate of reading widely and this includes reading about experiences (as well as people, places, beliefs, cultures, subjects, etc.) different from my own and/or what I may be used to. For this reason, I would recommend others read this as well, if anything, for better insight and understanding of the LGBTQ perspective.
Received ARC from Celadon Books as part of Early Reader program. -
’My days have been numbered in dogs. Even now, when I try to take the measure of the people I have been, I count the years by the dogs I owned in each season. When I was a boy, for instance, I had a Dalmatian named Playboy, a resentful hoodlum who loved no one except my father.’
I grew up with dogs. More than that, I grew up on a dog, was raised by one to some extent, as the dog my parents brought home shortly before I was born, an Irish Setter who had been sent by the previously interested potential buyers to a dog training facility that I can only compare to the one in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. There, our dog was trained to click his teeth together to let us know he needed to go outside, and never to bark, not that he couldn’t bark. And he was more or less my “Nana,” my babysitter, and also the pillow I took my naps on as an infant and toddler. So convinced was he that I belonged to him, that when I began to dare to try to stand upright, he would nudge me back down on all fours, where I clearly belonged. The day he took his last breath was the first time I felt my heart break. Since then, I’ve owned, or been owned by, shared my life with another thirteen dogs, some from shelters, some were ‘gifts,’ some I shared their whole lives, and some for but a brief time until they found their forever homes. As I type this, my two dogs are laying beside me (as Paisley, 'my' cat, glares at me.)
But that is only a part of Jennifer Finney Boylan’s story, of her journey from a young boy who grew up with dogs, to a personal coming-to-terms with acknowledging that the person she always knew she was inside didn’t match the person other people saw from the outside, and sharing that information with her wife, and their two children.
’But if you ask me, the magic of dogs is not that their love for us is unconditional. What’s unconditional is the love that we have for them.’
‘Listen: If we’re going to talk about dogs, we’re going to have to talk about love…I’m pretty sure that if there is any reason why we are here on this planet, it is in order to love one another. It is, as the saying goes, all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’
‘And yet, as it turns out, nothing is harder than loving human beings.’
So, if you’re looking for a book that is about dogs, and a writer’s life with them, this is that, but it is also so much more. She talks about the acceptance of one’s true self, the internal efforts to believe in her worth, and her long journey to accept both her identity and her sexuality. But, beyond everything, it is simply about this: Love. -
4.5 Stars for Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan read by the author and Kelsey Navarro.
I wasn’t familiar with the author but I was intrigued by the title and the book cover. I think how the author split up the story of her life based on the dogs in her life at the time was interesting. She is a remarkable woman and this was fascinating story. -
I just can’t, anymore. I had an ARC of this book and read it voraciously (because I’m queer and I love dogs; you’d think this book was meant for people like me) until I finished the second chapter. I was a little wary about how this family was treating their dogs for the first two chapters, but it was something I was able to overlook for the most part. Until I got to the end of the second chapter where the author, a teen at the time, kicked her dog off her bed one night essentially because she was tired of the old dog, who was a leftover from her childhood, and she didn’t love her anymore because she had “outgrown her.” I mean what the fuck, who does this to a living animal? The most innocent, loving type of creature, who just wants to sleep next to their person at night like they do every night? I just put the book down after finishing that chapter, and probably would never have picked it up again, if I hadn’t received a free listening copy of it on Libro.FM. I listened to like the first ten minutes of the third chapter, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. These people were clearly terrible at training a dog name Matt the Mutt. In fact, I think they inadvertently encouraged his bad behavior, as many owners of “bad” dogs do. Dogs require guidance and love, they are bred to need structure and to listen (assuming they aren’t inbred or poorly socialized). The author pawns this dog’s horrible behavior off as hilarious; this dog runs around literally fucking their other dogs, peeing on walls and humans, and running into people and toppling them over. I just don’t understand how this is funny in the least. And the fact that you yell at the dog at the time of poor behavior, but then write about it with humor??? You’re using your dog’s behavior to make your book funny, even though you hated the dog at the time for how they were behaving? Fuck that.
Like, sure, like I said before, some dogs are inbred or poorly socialized/abused when they were young (or they are for their whole lives) and that’s why they behave badly, but a lot of times when a dog is “bad,” it’s because of their owners. Humans just expect dogs to behave a certain way and are confounded when the darn animals do whatever they want without being given structure or boundaries. I just don’t understand expecting your dog to be human (I mean, yes, I treat my dogs as equally as a humans...maybe better than some humans...but I still understand that they aren’t humans and therefore don’t communicate like humans) or using negative/punishment-based training tactics (such as yelling at the dog when they are bad, like this family did with Matt the Mutt). It won’t work. In fact, it will do the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve. Your dog will continue to be bad. It’s not funny that you just yell at the animal and expect them to change. Get a cat instead, and try not to yell at it either.
RANT OVER. Crazy dog lady out. -
I felt like I was lost, This was a stand alone memoir but there must have been one before it that I missed. It was all over the place and whole time lines were missing for me.
The writing is very well portrayed but the blank spots have me wondering what I have missed.
With that being said this is just one persons opinion. Get your copy and see what you think. The cover is cute.
I gave this book 3 stars.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own. -
Jennifer Finney Boylan tells about her life in seven dogs, seven chapters. She writes with love, humor, and understanding. She tells not only about the dogs and their unique personalities and conditions, but gradually recounts her transitioning in her forties from James to Jennifer. On her way to surgery she sang the song, "I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair." That's typical of her sense of humor and it adds so much to the book.
She also gets serious, and her dogs often convey much wisdom to her with their facial expressions:
"Don't you know how much I love you? Don't you know that this is the only reason we are here? To love one another and to be loved." Why is it that what is so obvious to dogs is such a mystery to men and women?
I'm a cat owner but love dogs too and believe any animal lover will enjoy this book. The audio version (not read by the author except for a short note at the beginning) is just great. -
3.75 🐶 🐶 🐶 🐶
Clever & humorous writing in this well told memoir. -
Many thanks to Celadon Books for sending me a free copy
interesting title....
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Thank you Bookish First for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
While this is not something I would ever pick up on my own, I did enjoy this much more than I thought. Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs is a memoir that is about the author’s life from boyhood, manhood, and then womanhood. I think what was so unique about this memoir is that the author told it from the point in her life when she had a certain dog. It definitely resonated with me more being written like that, I as well remember key points in my life based on the dog or cat that was in my life.
I loved how honest the author was and it was a very touching read. She does not shy away from the truth and is completely honest with her life and how it was a huge process during these three stages of her life. Not to mention she has such a witty writing style that was fun to read. I wish she would have said a little bit more about how the dogs affected her. In some chapters we found out a lot about the dogs and how the dog at the time had changed her. I mean she had a life altering moment with her one dog Penny. Some of the chapters though, I felt I learned nothing of the dog or the significance. All in all, this was such a thoughtful book and while it was different for me to read this type of genre, she goes through some of the same struggles as we all do, and it made me feel for her. Yes, this is a book is about a transgender and her life leading to that point, but it had so much more. It had family aspects, friendships, and coming to terms with who you really are and being okay with that whether or not people were.
“I’m sorry I never told you before,” I said, “but I was afraid that if I told you the truth about who I was, that you wouldn’t love me anymore.”
“I would never turn my back on my child, I will always love you, no matter what.” And then she quoted First Corinthians: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” -
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book from Celadon Books with the hope that I would write an honest review. #ReadGoodBoy #CeladonReads
I was completely unfamiliar with Jennifer Boylan or her work--isn't modern celebrityhood wonderful?--but the book certainly looked interesting. I do like dogs well enough, though, and the idea of telling a memoir through the pets one has owned is intriguing. So I gave it a try.
As you’d surmise from the cover, this book is a series of prose snapshots of Boylan’s life, going all the way back to her boyhood. That's not a typo. In my eagerness to get started on the book, I skimmed the back cover and publicity material and totally missed all the parts about Boylan being trans. It kind of threw me for a loop the first time she mentioned having been a boy and husband and father, but only for a moment. After all, what matters is whether she can write, right?
And she can. For sure. She has a fine sense of timing and an eye for detail. I admire her ability to break off a scene at just the right point so that it resonates while she tells of something else, and then comes back to the first scene at just the right moment to continue it. It sounds clunky when I describe it, but once you read a bit, you’ll see just what I mean.
I also liked how, when describing the perpetually hyper Matt the Mutt, she makes liberal use of short sentences! Lots of them! That end in exclamation points! Fun technique!
The book is a delight! When you think about it, a memoir makes a perfect introduction for a new author. Now that I have some sense of Jennifer Boylan as a person, I’m that much more keen to check out more of her work, certainly the memoirs at the very least.
I greatly enjoyed this book. Highly recommended! -
Boylan has written a memoir structured around dogs who were part of her life at various times, from the first, when she was a child named Jimmy, through others during college, adulthood, parenthood, and transition. Thanks to Edelweiss and to the publisher for this ARC.
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📚 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀! I kept a box of tissues nearby while reading this book. I knew that there was a possibility that the content might be quite emotional. 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘆: 𝗠𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗴𝘀 by Jennifer Finney Boylan is a beautifully written book about the author’s transgender journey. She tells the story through the lives of the several dogs she had. Each chapter covers one dog and the progress in her journey. It is a touching memoir that helps the reader understand the deep struggles the authors experienced throughout her life. It is also a positive account which brings hope that prejudice against LGBTQ will one day be only a distant memory.
🙋🏼♀️ Thank you, 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 for sending me an ARC of this moving novel. 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘆: 𝗠𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗴𝘀 by Jennifer Finney Boylan is available at your favourite bookstore.
#poodles #poodlestagram #poodlesofinstagram #furbabies #dogsofinstagram #bookstagram #dogsandbooks #bookishlife #bookishlove #bookstagrammer #book #books #booklover #bookish #bookaholic #reading #readersofinstagram #instaread #ilovebooks #bookishcanadians #canadianbookstagram #bookreviewer #bookcommunity #bibliophile #bookphotography #ReadGoodBoy #jenniferfinneyboylan #bookreview -
Good Boy, the latest memoir from Jennifer Finney Boylan, makes me want to go adopt a dog. And it also makes me glad I don’t have one. She tells a plethora of funny and poignant stories about dog ownership. Alternately, she tells about dogs who despise their owners and aren’t afraid to show it. Along the way, Boylan shares details about her own life, as well as her family and friends over the years. In her sixty-plus years, she’s had a wide variety of experiences. Some are quite ordinary, and others are certainly unique. I inhaled this like a dog who tips over the treat jar in an empty house.
As one of the first trans women to publish a bestselling book, Boylan has already bared a lot of her soul. This book is as much about those “good” dogs, as it is about whether Boylan is the boy / man people expect. And of course, she is not.
A deft storyteller, Boylan makes me want to hear more. But her approach isn’t titillation. It’s details of a life both big and small. Her story is big in the sense of offering her truths. And small in the details of moments, like a short but sweet hug from a loved one.
If you think dogs unfailingly give their owners unconditional love, Boylan begs to differ. Conversely, if your families and good friends are conditional in their love, Boylan reminds you that they may not be. But this is not an angry book. On the contrary, it’s gentle and kind.
My conclusions
Good Boy came into my life on a fortuitous day. As it turned out, I discussed aspects of the trans journey (from my cis-gendered perspective) with my 81-year-old aunt. One of her beloved grandchildren has just come out as trans. And while she’s generally accepting, the journey has just begun for her. I’ll send this book off to my aunt, since Boylan explains things both delicately and clearly. I think the stories in Good Boy will help her understand this grandchild and their feelings. And that’s a priceless gift Boylan has given the world.
I wish I could post some quotes from Boylan in this review. But since I’ve read an advanced copy, some text may change. What they’d illustrate is Boylan’s skill at her craft. She is a master of the story that just pulls you gently along, then gives you a slap of insight towards the end.
If you like heartwarming family stories, with a combination of belly laughs and sweetness, this is a book for you. Its publication date is late April, 2020.
Pair with
Abigail Thomas, who also writes about her dogs, or
Janet Mock, another prominent trans woman. Heck, even Pete Buttegieg’s
book, since he talks briefly about coming out later in his adulthood.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Celadon Books and Jennifer Finney Boylan for the opportunity to read an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for this honest review. #ReadGoodBoy #CeladonReads
Originally published on my book blog,
TheBibliophage.com. -
I received this ARC from Celadon Books via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.
DNF on page 59
I honestly forgot I was reading this and I feel bad for not finishing it, because how can you say a memoir wasn't a good book? I don't want to qualify someone's life like that, but considering that this is Boylan's third memoir, you'd think she'd get the idea of how to write a coherent narrative. It wasn't bad, but it made me feel lowkey a little stupid.
This has a really weird structure that I'm not entirely a fan of. For the first little section, it worked well -- as an introduction. I didn't expect the rest of the book to be as time-jumpy and random as that. I expected a bit more consistency. I just feel like some of the scenes were incomprehensible (besides being out of chronological order, which I can figure out usually). I didn't understand the point being made or why it was told in that way. I felt like a child surrounded by an adult conversation that is literally going over my head.
Beyond that, and here's the part that makes me feel slightly icky, but I didn't find her, at least from the little bit I read, all that interesting. I'd rather read an article or a few paragraphs summarizing the highlights. I feel like if the structure hadn't been so terrible, it might have made the narrative of her life feel less boring.
Overall, I'd say this is probably a fine memoir, but as the only memoir I've ever tried reading, I didn't like it and I don't think I'll be reading many memoirs in the future.
Also, if anyone wants my copy, let me know lol I'll gladly give it to you. -
First, I have to say the best part about this book for me was the cover. That being said, I love that Jenny's children called her 'Maddy,' a combination of daddy and mommy, since they already had a mommy. The part about the story being told through seven dogs was a bit choppy and all over the place. I think seven short stories would have been better. It's obvious to the reader that the author is a very smart person and a very skilled writer. The subject matter, trying to weave dogs into explaining a transgender journey, just fell flat for me. I do Praise the author for showing it is possible to struggle with being transgender, be true to yourself, and live a happy fulfilled life. @Celadonbooks #CeladonReads #ReadGoodBoy
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4,5 rounded up to a 5
This autobiography was funny, unflinchingly honest, and deeply moving.
The somewhat meandering narrative structure sometimes pulled me out of it a little, but I think that's the only critical thing I can think about saying right now.
CW -
I thought it was going to be a story about dogs. I love dog books. Bruce Cameron is one of my favorites. Pleasure reads. Happy tears.
This is not a book about dogs...per say. It did turn out to be a more pleasant read than I anticipated, and it had some happy tears. It was also super slow at spots and the last 10-15 pages just draaaaaaaggged. (No pun intended. You’ll understand once you read it.)
The author is a transgender woman and this memoir is a lot about her early life (when she was living as a man) and about her immediate family. The dog stories are just sprinkles. If I knew the author better I may have enjoyed the book a little more, but I didn’t even know Jennifer Boylan existed until now. There’s several more books out there by her; I may have to pick up another.
Book had cute moments. Had boring moments. My highlighter got some use. Twitter got some quotes. I’m passing it along to another reader.
This was my first LGBTQ author. Not that that’s a milestone or something, but I’m glad to be expanding my reading experiences. -
Thank you Jennifer Finney Boylan, Celadon Books publishing company, and the shipping company for this book. I won it in a giveaway and will be doing a review in return. I received this after reading an excerpt and entering a giveaway. This in no way alters my opinion or review.
Excerpt Review:
This was not what I thought it was going to be at all. Where I expected mediocre writing about how dogs are 'always good boys' instead turned out to be a more deeply thought out process of what they might mean and how they might be the example of unconditional love we crave. There was a clever twist from a play on words and while I did wonder if the author was using the topic as a plot convention, it seems to have impacted his life as well. So instead of cheap, I found it quirky and am more accepting because it is not something to use for just laughs, it was thought provoking without shoving social warrior vibes down my throat. Thoughtful and different, I am glad for the nostalgia.
Review (3-20-20):
The setup is about the author being close to the dogs and soon into the beginning, you realize that the dogs really meant something to him as he comes to accept that he is transgender and that while other people may judge him, his best friends and (dog) family love him and that truly is all that matters.
The beginning was the best for me in terms of the book as a whole and for each chapter as the character gives a cute, sad, but all in all inner window into himself through anecdotes and morality stories he learned as a child.
The middle and end of the chapters were also nice and welcoming (for the pages, but I felt bad for the experiences the author went through because he wasn't trying to bed for pity, wasn't just using it to market a book), but I did feel as if the book was longer than it needed to be. Don't get me wrong, this is a memoir, but focusing on how one became oneself or altered because of the family and people (and animals) that you trust is what I believed I was getting into. Other times, there did seem to be filler and I would have liked the book more if there was just the book without a feeling of need to get to a certain page length.
This was an enjoyable story, though longer than necessary, it was truthful and I would recommend it to people struggling with their sex, and maybe even when dealing with a death of a loved pet. -
3.5
I enjoyed this book for the main reason that I enjoy real human stories. Although this book presents at first glance as being a book about dogs, it's more about the author's life from one to gender to another. As a dog lover, I was hoping for more about the dogs, which is what originally attracted me to the book, however, I still came away with an interesting story so it worked out fine.
I can appreciate other people's political viewpoints but I hate when negative comments about our current President are thrown in books as though every reader will understand and perhaps agree with the author. If I wanted political negativity, I'd find a book written exclusively focused on said negativity. I find it annoying and my annoyance will always be reflected in downgrading by a 1/2 (or 1 full) star rating. This one was pretty mild so it's down a 1/2 star. Still, annoying.
It's an interesting human story but I feel like I never really got beyond a surface impression of the author. The author's struggle was there in the stories but I never felt it on an emotional level. It seemed more distant, more in an intellectual place. I feel in a story like this one, the impact would be greater if it hit me emotionally, like
Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout did. The timelines jumped around a bit but despite these issues, I still feel it fills a need in the world: understanding and compassion for those different from your own self.
Thank you to bookish first for an ARC copy. -
This is an interesting book, and its strengths lie mainly in the fact that the author is a superb writer.
I know that she has written quite a few previous memoirs, and I felt like I was missing a big part of the story that has probably already been told in those. This one felt a bit piecemeal with parts of her story and her family's story and the stories of the different dogs, like not enough time was spent on either subject.
I did love her statement that the unconditional love we feel from our dogs is actually our unconditional love for them, which is absolutely the truth. I love dogs, I have had many in my life so far and could relate to many of the humorous anecdotes she tells about her dogs.
I have very little experience with transgender people and found this an enlightening look at her life journey. This book made me think about things I had never considered before.
I thank Celadon books for the complimentary review copy. All opinions are my own. #CeladonReads #ReadGoodBoy #partner -
To say that I am disappointed about this book would be an understatement. I thought this book would be heavily focused on the various dogs that entered Jennifer's life throughout the years. Instead this was more about her family with brief mentions about the dogs.
Not to take away anything from Jennifer or her family. As this is her book and she can tell it how she wants. Yet, I agree with other readers that this book did seem disjointed in the writing and layout of it. It seemed to bounce around. Plus, the biggest factor of the dogs. I can't hardly remember any of the dogs names. Therefore I did not become as closely to them as I wanted. I was hoping to do so as a dog lover. In addition, I thought I might shed some tears. Sadly, this book was not for me. -
The premise of the book was promising but inside the cover was a different story. While the author does cover the dogs and their importance to her life, it was about much more than that. I appreciated the different anecdotes about her beloved dogs. The writing was choppy and the plot jumped all over the place. I had a hard time following the sections as it felt very discombobulated. Overall, a fun read and as a dog lover I appreciated it. Not really what I was expecting but a fine read nonetheless. My thanks to the publisher for sending me this free review copy in exchange for my honest review.
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Every dog lover has had dogs that have deeply impacted their lives. That is the theme Jennifer Finney Boylan sets out to explore in Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs. A play on the expression “good boy”, Boylan’s memoir is about her journey from boyhood to womanhood, framed by the lives of the dogs that were a part of her life at the time. It is a candid, anecdotal recollection of her life up to this point.
I didn’t even make it through the first chapter before I was already both laughing and crying. That being said, given the subject matter, I expected it to be a far more sentimental tale. I anticipated reading this book in phases, overcome with emotion as each chapter ended in the demise of her canine companion. However, this was not the case. Instead of focusing on the inevitable loss of each dog, Boylan focuses on their lives, and on moments with each dog that shaped her life.
Whether or not you are a dog lover, I would recommend this book. It is a tale of friendship, love, and self-acceptance. It’s a beautiful, candid portrait of one woman’s life, and the moments that have shaped it.
