Enzo knows how to race in the rain, motor
racing that is, despite being a dog. He
has learnt it all from Denny, with whom he lives. Denny is a man, an amateur racing driver, who
puts the sport on TV all the time: movies like Grand Prix and Senna; Formula
One and NASCAR races; and even driver-view videos of the great racetracks. Enzo knows when trouble hits the track, like
rain, the best drivers respond positively, embracing the conditions, keeping
the car on the road until things improve.
Enzo has learnt much more from watching
daytime TV documentaries while Denny is at work. One of these aired the Mongolian belief that
good dogs reincarnate as humans. He
decides to prepare himself for that by careful study of mankind, which enables
him to narrate the novel from his canine point of view intelligently and
articulately.
He adapts when Denny’s girlfriend Eve moves
in and is protective when their daughter Zoe is born. But happy families can be a short game. When tragedy, conspiracy, injustice and rank
bad luck hit Denny he must, with Enzo’s help, apply the art of racing in the
rain to keep his life on the track.
Accept the premise and the book flows well
enough. The slings and arrows that rain
down are predictable but nonetheless affecting; ditto the conclusion. Affinity with dogs and/or motor racing no
doubt adds to the enjoyment but is not a prerequisite.
For me it was reminiscent of the inevitably
superior ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ but with simpler prose;
after all this one is narrated by a dog not a philosophy lecturer.
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