Garth Stein takes you through Enzo’s entire life from a puppy in Spangle, Washington to an apartment living with his owner, Denny. Denny is a race car driver pursuing racing and married life with his wife, Eve. Quickly, Enzo picks up on a human perspective after many hours of watching tv and observing Denny. As Enzo grows up, so does Denny’s little family. Soon Enzo is a big brother to Zoe, Denny’s daughter. It might sound too cliche and perfect right now, but, like real life, with that comes chaos. Enzo senses Eve’s illness far before she even knows herself. But without any way to warn her, he simply has to watch terror unfold. 

I’d recommend this book to all audiences, but obviously the dog lovers or anyone trying to jump back into reading would enjoy this book. Stein is an incredible writer, and I’d definitely recommend his work. The Art of Racing in the Rain is not just a story about a dog, it is a story of human lives struck with joy, tragedy, failure, success, and setbacks. Stein did an excellent job of giving this dog a big personality and satisfied human wonders of dog intelligence. This book is different from others because Stein distances you from the emotional lives of the human characters by narrating everything through Enzo’s eyes. In the book, you can see character growth in Eve and Enzo, and with Enzo’s relationship with Eve growing, you find she’s just a loving mother with an unfortunate situation. Enzo grows into an older brother figure and glues his family together. 

The Art of Racing in the Rain is a nice easy to read book. The book starts when Enzo is old then he tells the story from when he’s a pup all throughout his life. There is a lot of symbolism and reflection in this story. This book brings light to the unfortunate aspects of life, and Enzo often refers to famous racers who preserve and keep pushing even in struggle. A symbol in the story, the zebra,  represents the wrong in life and how easily it can destroy, but how insignificant the destruction could be. Tugging at the family heartstring, this book does not miss. With a slow, but still heartwarming intro ,by the end you’ll be sobbing.