Cherished: 21 Writers on Animals They Have Loved and Lost - Softcover

Abercrombie, Barbara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1577319575 ISBN 13: 9781577319573

Publisher: New World Library, 2011

Synopsis

"What do our beloved pets teach us and how do we move beyond loss to embrace and celebrate their memory? In Cherished: 21 Writers Celebrate Animals They've Loved and Lost, writers put into words the depth of grief felt after their animals' deaths, the lessons learned from their lives, how these animals changed them, and the joy they left behind. These remarkable stories go far beyond conveying the heartbreaking loss that pet owners experience when their pet dies. With rare literary texture and insight, they convey how pets fit into the messiness of life and how life changes because of them. Each essay speaks to larger truths and insights about life itself. Our pets help us deal with the continual litany of changes that life dishes out. They see us through family deaths, career changes, divorces, financial ups and downs. But when they inevitably pass away, who can we turn to for solace except those with whom we share this common experience. Cherished features remarkable writers and remarkable stories, three-quarters of them original to this collection. Novelist Samantha Dunn describes her driven cowgirl mother who finds ingenious ways for her daughter to keep Gabe, their pure white gelding, while living at lot #78 of the Enchanted Hills Mobile Home Park.Anne Lamott describes the powerful moment of community that forms as she and her son face the passing of their dog, Sadie. Memoirist May-lee Chai writes about growing up on a South Dakota farm and grappling with the inevitabilities of farm life as she becomes attached to the three pigs she reluctantly cares for. And with beautiful, cutting detail, poet Mark Doty describes the last days of his dog, Arden"--

About this title

Review

"Pet owners everywhere will thank Barbara Abercrombie for pulling together this moving collection. The writing in these pages not only provides comfort but offers a master class in storytelling as well."
-- Jennie Nash, author of The Threadbare Heart

"Death is not always pretty, and the words that comfort aren't always those that speak of rainbow bridges or angel choirs. Cherished goes to the gut, earthy and honest, offering no easy answers but an assurance that if loving and losing a pet leaves you feeling simultaneously crazy, bewildered, and weirdly blessed, you are not alone."
-- Rev. Gary Kowalski, author of Goodbye, Friend

"Animals warm and boost our spirits, and fill some of the dark and disconnected cracks in life. It's wonderful to read the reflections of creative people sharing this experience, as these writers have done so beautifully and poignantly in Cherished."
-- Jon Katz, author of Rose in a Storm and The Dogs of Bedlam Farm

"These stories, more than anything, are about life, about tolerance and compromise. They are full of humor and tenderness for our beasty friends and us, their human cohorts."
-- Linda Hunt, actress

Edition details

• Publisher: New World Library
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1577319575
• ISBN 13: 9781577319573
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224