Dog Names that Start with En

Let us ask this: how many of you, especially those of you who are avid readers, have read books written in the first person from an unusual perspective? The perspective to which we refer is that of the first-person narrator AND first-person peripheral narrator - yes, that’s strange and confusing!  Our pop culture spotlight for today is Enzo, and he’s a dog with an unusual slant on life.

The book in which we found Enzo, written by Garth Stein, is titled The Art of Racing in the Rain, and it’s a story with an exciting twist.  Before writing the book, Stein was impressed with a program he watched on the National Geographic channel which told about how, when a dog dies in Mongolia, he is buried in a high place in the hills so that people can’t walk upon his grave.  According to the information shared on the program, the dog’s master whispers into the dog’s ear a wish that the dog would return as a man in the next life. They then cut off the dog’s tail, place it beneath his head, and put a piece of fat or meat into the deceased canine’s mouth, to ensure that the animal’s soul has food to sustain him on his journey.  Before the reincarnation takes place, the soul of the deceased doggy is free to roam about the world as long as he wishes and to run across the plains of the high deserts as he likes. As an added note, Stein says he learned that not all dogs return as humans, saying instead that only those who are “ready” do so. The program activated Stein’s creativity switch and influenced him to write The Art of Racing in the Rain from a dog’s point of view.

In the book, Enzo believes the Mongolian legend, and, knowing he is set apart from other dogs (“a philosopher with a near-human soul”) he decides to prepare himself.  He increases his understanding of humans by watching TV, especially programs on the sport of automobile racing and by listening to the conversations of his master and human family.  In a genuinely touching, sometimes heart-wrenching and sometimes downright funny way, Enzo brings together an encouraging story of family love, loyalty, and hope, standing on the premise that if you utilize techniques mastered on the race track, anyone can maneuver virtually all of life’s trials successfully.