In the Company of Newfies: A Shared Life - Hardcover

Lerman, Rhoda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0967853311 ISBN 13: 9780967853314

Publisher: Blue Heaven Publishing, 2002

Synopsis

Finally back in print, In the Company of Newfies is one of the most beautiful books ever written about dogs. It has become a classic and a collectible. It is a book of love and loss...for owners of all breeds, not just Newfoundlands. Thousands have found, after the loss of their dogs, enduring comfort in it. Thousands have found eye-opening insights into the hearts of their dogs. Lerman recounts a year in the life of one litter, and in the lives of the rest of the dog family in her household who help to rear and train the pups. It is a year of many victories and some losses, and it is through both that the reader experiences a full sweep of the emotions dogs and humans share. By book's end, the reader will have laughed at the antics of the irrepressible Toby; admired the quiet strength and intelligence of the mother, Molly; delighted in the growing maturity of the pups Rosie and Silky; cheered as Ishtar takes her first championship ribbon; and wept for the death of noble Ben. Couples read it out loud to each other.

In the Company of Newfies is a visionary book filled with stunning insights that teach us much about the profound bond between human and dog, about the almost limitless possibilities in our relationships with them. Lerman's observations, keen and deeply intuitive, reveal dogs' thinking and behavior in new and wonderful ways. Reading her book, it is hard to deny her belief that dogs want to commune with people, want to leave their wild selves and join our human community.

Perhaps only a novelist of Rhoda Lerman's skill and sensitivity could have ranged so freely to tell us so much.

About this title

About the Author:

Rhoda Lerman is a writer of great depth. She has six novels published, a work of non-fiction about her dogs, two television plays and a stage play which traveled around the U.S. for two years. She has taught Creative Writing at a number of universities around the country. She has been on the board of the New York State Council of the Arts, as well as a judge of a number of fiction contests. She lectured throughout India with the USIA Ampart program, spoke at the European Society of Science and Technology in Belgium, and was the cultural delegate with the first official American delegation to Tibet. She is currently working on two projects, one is another non-fiction book about the dogs, and the other a novel which takes place in Brazil. With all of this, she still finds time to breed and show her beloved dogs. She lives in the Southern Tier of New York state with her husband and her fourteen Newfoundlands, surrounded by acres of woods and trails and a large pond.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A highly romanticized account of life with six jumbo-size Newfoundland dogs and a litter of newborn Newfie pups, as told by longtime novelist Lerman (Animal Acts, 1994; God's Ear, 1989; etc.). ``This is a book about the dogs who look steadfastly into my eyes and move their lips in vowel shapes, speaking to me as I speak to them, because they want to be like me, because their life's work is not to be dog, but to be human,'' says Lerman on the opening page. And from this ardent perspective, she proceeds to recount the many details of her canine-oriented life of recent years. When one of her females, Molly, gives birth to six pups by a difficult cesarean section, Lerman and her husband take turns staying by her side night and day. The sights and smells of the whelping box are vividly recounted, as are Lerman's philosophical views--especially when she searches for meaning after one of the tiny pups dies. Other recurrent themes include Lerman's urgent desire to communicate with her dogs and to show them that she understands what they're thinking, as well as her wish to connect ``with the wonders of the natural world'' through her animals. Lerman's first and most beloved dog, Ben, the pack leader of the household, is struggling with cancer and, sadly, loses the battle by the end of the book. Lerman is extremely sensitive to his condition, and with good reason: Both she and her husband had been (successfully) treated for cancer. In addition to the day-to-day details of Newfie life, we learn of the efforts involved in teaching these dogs water-rescue work and preparing them for national competition. Though much of the book is overly subjective and intensely speculative, it should be of interest to Newfie lovers and devoted breeders; otherwise of limited appeal. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Blue Heaven Publishing
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0967853311
• ISBN 13: 9780967853314
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 178