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Usually ships in 1 business days | | Only 1 left in stock, order soon! | | | | | | The long-awaited novel—a very special love story—from the best-selling author of Cowboys Are My Weakness. This is the story of a woman, Rae, and her dog, Dante, a wolfhound who teaches "his human" that love is stronger than fear (the dog has always known this). Dante is the catalyst for change in other characters as well, and they step forward with their narratives: Rae's house-tender; her therapist; two veterinarians; and an anxiety-ridden actor, Howard, who turns out to be as stalwart as Dante himself. As the "seer" who hunts by sight rather than smell, Dante has some things to add, as does Rose, another dog who lives at Rae's heels, and Stanley the cat. Among and above these myriad voices, Rae voices her own challenges. With the wit and dead-on candor we've come to expect from Pam Houston, Sight Hound unfolds a story that illuminates the intangible covenant between loved ones. Here, dogs and humans are simply equal creatures, looking to connect and holding on for dear life when they do. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Pam Houston | | Hardcover: | 342 pages | | Publisher: | W.W. Norton & Co. | | Publication Date: | January 17, 2005 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0393058174 | | Package Length: | 8.43 inches | | Package Width: | 5.91 inches | | Package Height: | 1.26 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.15 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 37 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 SNORE Nov 24, 2009
I could not get through this book. I read most of it, but I had little patience for the broken characters. One may as well write an entire novel using only stereotypes. Oh, wait: one already did. I did find one redeeming paragraph in the whole book: when the dog is talking about his human, Rae, the dog, Dante, says:
"There are three principles to remember if you are to teach a human anything, and they are consistency, consistency, consistency. They are such fragile creatures to begin with, with poor eyes, poorer hearing, and no sense of smell left to speak of, it's no wonder they are made of fear. Some centuries ago they moved inside and with that move went nine-tenths of their intuition. It is almost unmerciful to make them live so long when they spend so much of their lives in pain."
I really liked this passage. But the rest of the book is just cliched people with cliched problems, and by the middle of the book I simply could not take it any more. A hurt human, a sad human, a human who's been used and abused, whose mom had cancer, whose dad left, whose dog had cancer, whose dog left, whose dog fell in a creek, pity pity the poor human. What's next? The list goes on. I have trouble empathizing with any single one of them.
I do have to say, though, that I have enjoyed Pam Houston's other books and maybe I'm just a little bit jealous of her river-running, mountain-hiking lifestyle. I think that's precisely what she wants.
Love the dogs, hate the people Aug 19, 2009
I fell in love with Irish Wolfhounds because of this book. I have an Irish Wolfhound because of this book. Despite these two things, I didn't like this book. The book jumps around from the viewpoints of all the characters, including the dogs, the cats, and all the owners involved. The voices of the human characters are all so similar, that I often found myself paging back to find out which character I was on. And, when I did figure out which human I was dealing with, I didn't like them especially. The dogs were written well, and I think the whole book could be improved by ripping out all the sections covering the people and just leaving the dogs and the cat.
The story is based around Dante, a three-legged Irish Wolfhound, and his owner Rae (who is incredibly self absorbed-except when it comes to her dog). Rae is hoping to find love, and Dante wants nothing more than to see her happy and see her find love. The novel, written by Pam Houston, chronicles the bond between dog and owner and this is where the story gains its power and momentum. The touching moments between Rae and Dante make you want to reach down and stroke your dog between the ears a little bit longer. Houston describes Wolfhounds perfectly and really captures the essence of the breed. Despite all this, I still don't recommend the book. It's heartbreaking, and the human characters make it hard to like them, or care about them at all. If you're going to read it, flip through and just try to get to the good parts. Houston can write, but the brief glimpses of her talents weren't enought and left me ultimately unfulfilled.
 Great for Non-Readers Mar 30, 2009
Ths writer's strongest followers fans are fascinated with the fact that this is not the thing you find in a supermarket shelf romance novel. The rest of the five-star reviewers are personal friends. Imagine the pressure to say something inspired! And using Cowboy Westernish prose!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A disappointment, a real poser Mar 10, 2009
These are not animal stories and they are not dog stories, they are petty little stories about this author's excuse for not feelng like she belongs anywhere or to anyone. Ho hum, guess what, it comes with moving here and there. What else is new? How can anyone who has every cared for a pet give all the dogs in this book one personality? Don't forget the pretentious, half-hearted wisdom to justify this author's platform, which must have been added during editing to help marketing.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Sight Hound Feb 08, 2009
I have already rated this transaction. The book arrived in great condition and in a very timely fashion. Have yet to read it, but would deal with this provider again in a minute.
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