One for the dogs
April 16th, 2008 Lisa - Central
Can someone teach me how to stop reading a book I’m not enjoying?
I heart New York, plus I loved The Love Letter by Cathleen Schine, so when The New Yorkers came out it made sense that I read it. Unfortunately, I tired of it after a few chapters.
It’s set on a block in midtown Manhattan where several 
characters live and raise their dogs. They interact at various meeting places: Central Park where they walk their dogs, the Go Go Grill, run by a gay man with a huge family who lets them bring their dogs in, and just on the street where they walk their dogs. Some of them fall in and out of love. Some of them eventually find true love. Some of them really love their dogs. And the villain challenges their right to walk their dogs on the streets of the neighborhood.
And that’s it, ad nauseum.
It does have an adorable dog on the cover.
Please give me some tips on dumping a book or tell me what I missed in this one!
Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction
3 Comments Add your own
1. Molly | April 16th, 2008 at 8:48 am
How about the 50-page rule? If after 50 pages you are still not into the book, give it the heave-ho. Easier said than done, I know. So what exactly did you not like about this book? Too much dog walking? Because the cover is so adorable and the plot sounds promising enough that I am putting a hold on it.
2. Lisa | April 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Isn’t s/he cute? There was not much plot, there was a lot of repetition of character traits (eg. one woman had a distinctive voice, and too often that trait was mentioned when she spoke), it jumped around a lot…you’d be following one character in one paragraph and then with no transition - kind of like my sentences here - a new character would pop up. It wasn’t hideous, just annoying. But it had lots of doggies in it, so you just might like it! Spoiler alert:
One of the characters even discovers his inner dog whisperer.
3. Molly | April 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I’m sold. I’ll give it the 50 pages and we’ll see how it goes.
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