For Bea: The Story of the Beagle Who Changed My Life - Softcover

Von Kreisler, Kristin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585423688 ISBN 13: 9781585423682

Publisher: TarcherPerigee, 2004

Synopsis

A touching and humorous account of the author's fifteen years with her beagle, Bea, a refugee from an animal research laboratory.

Harried by recent upheavals in her life, the last thing Kristin von Kreisler needed was another dog. But when she came upon Bea, a scrawny beagle abandoned by the roadside, she couldn't turn away. Bea became part of her family, and changed it forever.

Disheveled, malnourished, and terrified of human contact, Bea seemed damaged beyond repair. But, gradually, she began to trust von Kreisler. After resisting her touch again and again, the dog one day leaned in and nuzzled her neck. From that moment, Bea began to give love as well as receive it. With the typically unforgettable personality of a beagle, over the next decade and a half she taught von Kreisler the value of living utterly in the present, of meeting each day with a good bark, and of moving forward in life without being dragged down by past grief.

Written with rare eloquence and down-to-earth wit, this memoir of Bea and von Kreisler's fifteen-year love story will charm "beaglers" and touch the heart of anyone who has ever loved a dog.

About this title

About the Author

Kristin von Kreisler is a bestselling author of books about the animals she has loved and rescued her entire life, including Earnest, An Unexpected Grace, For Bea, and The Compassion of Animals. She now travels across the country speaking about animal welfare, but prior to that, worked as a freelance journalist and teacher. She lives with her husband on an island in Washington.

From Booklist

When von Kreisler, author of The Compassion of Animals (1999), found a beagle named Bea whose traumatic past included a stay at an animal-research facility, she was determined to help the cowering, malnourished animal. From the dog's condition, von Kreisler knew it wouldn't be easy. She was right. Bea vibrates with fear, rebuffs people, and feels relieving oneself takes place more easily indoors than out. The first chapters of this memoir are the best; readers bond with Bea just as Von Kreisler and her husband do, and everyone roots for the dog's slow but steady progress. Once Bea acclimates to her new surroundings, though, the book becomes just another dog story. Fortunately, von Kreisler is a good enough writer to keep readers' interest, even though her more factual material (e.g., the history of beagles) is woven in rather inelegantly. Dog tales have a built-in audience, though, and this one will, too. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: TarcherPerigee
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1585423688
• ISBN 13: 9781585423682
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208