Description:

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM FOX 2000 STARRING MILO VENTIMIGLIA, AMANDA SEYFRIED, AND KEVIN COSTNER

MEET THE DOG

WHO WILL SHOW THE WORLD

HOW TO BE HUMAN

The New York Times bestselling novel from Garth Stein—a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope—a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it.

“Splendid.” —People

“The perfect book for anyone who knows that compassion isn’t only for humans, and that the relationship between two souls who are meant for each other never really comes to an end. Every now and then I’m lucky enough to read a novel I can’t stop thinking about: this is one of them.” —Jodi Picoult

“It’s impossible not to love Enzo.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“This old soul of a dog has much to teach us about being human. I loved this book.” —Sara Gruen

Review

“One of those stories that may earn its place next to Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi.” — Portland Oregonian

“Splendid.” — People (3 ½ out of 4 stars)

“Fans of Marley & Me, rejoice.” — Entertainment Weekly

“The perfect book for anyone who knows that some of our best friends walk beside us on four legs; that compassion isn’t only for humans; and that the relationship between two souls...meant for each other never really comes to an end.” — Jodi Picoult

“The Art of Racing in The Rain has everything: love, tragedy, redemption, danger, and—most especially—the canine narrator Enzo. This old soul of a dog has much to teach us about being human. I loved this book.” — Sara Gruen, Author of Water for Elephants

“The Art of Racing in The Rain has everything: love, tragedy, redemption, danger, and--most especially--the canine narrator Enzo. This old soul of a dog has much to teach us about being human.” — Sara Gruen, Author of Water for Elephants

“I savored Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain for many reasons: a dog who speaks, the thrill of competitive racing, a heart-tugging storyline, and--best of all--the fact that it is a meditation on humility and hope in the face of despair.” — Wally Lamb, Author of She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True

From the Back Cover

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope—a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it.

About the Author

Garth Stein is the author of Enzo Races in the Rain!, based on the New York Times bestselling novel The Art of Racing in the Rain (and its tween adaptation, Racing in the Rain). His other works include A Sudden Light, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, Raven Stole the Moon, and a play, Brother Jones. He is the cofounder of Seattle7Writers.org, a nonprofit collective of sixty-two Northwest authors dedicated to fostering a passion for the written word. Garth lives in Seattle with his family and his dog, Comet.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Name: The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel
Brand: Harper Paperbacks
SKU: U0061537969
Price: 83.68 AED
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6 (13 reviews)

A NovelBy

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

ISBN: 9780061537967

Chapter One

Gestures are all that I have; sometimes they must be grand in nature. And while I occasionally step over the line and into the world of the melodramatic, it is what I must do in order to communicate clearly and effectively. In order to make my point understood without question. I have no words I can rely on because, much to my dismay, my tongue was designed long and flat and loose, and therefore, is a horribly ineffective tool for pushing food around my mouth while chewing, and an even less effective tool for making clever and complicated polysyllabic sounds that can be linked together to form sentences. And that's why I'm here now waiting for Denny to come home—he should be here soon—lying on the cool tiles of the kitchen floor in a puddle of my own urine.

I'm old. And while I'm very capable of getting older, that's not the way I want to go out. Shot full of pain medication and steroids to reduce the swelling of my joints. Vision fogged with cataracts. Puffy, plasticky packages of Doggie Depends stocked in the pantry. I'm sure Denny would get me one of those little wagons I've seen on the streets, the ones that cradle the hindquarters so a dog can drag his ass behind him when things start to fail. That's humiliating and degrading. I'm not sure if it's worse than dressing up a dog for Halloween, but it's close. He would do it out of love, of course. I'm sure he would keep me alive as long as he possibly could, my body deteriorating, disintegrating around me, dissolving until there's nothing left but my brain floating in a glass jar filled with clear liquid, my eyeballs drifting at the surface and all sorts of cables and tubes feeding what remains. But I don't want to be kept alive. Because I know what's next. I've seen it on TV. A documentary I saw about Mongolia, of all places. It was the best thing I've ever seen on television, other than the 1993 Grand Prix of Europe, of course, the greatest automobile race of all time in which Ayrton Senna proved himself to be a genius in the rain. After the 1993 Grand Prix, the best thing I've ever seen on TV is a documentary that explained everything to me, made it all clear, told the whole truth: when a dog is finished living his lifetimes as a dog, his next incarnation will be as a man.

I've always felt almost human. I've always known that there's something about me that's different than other dogs. Sure, I'm stuffed into a dog's body, but that's just the shell. It's what's inside that's important. The soul. And my soul is very human.

I am ready to become a man now, though I realize I will lose all that I have been. All of my memories, all of my experiences. I would like to take them with me into my next life—there is so much I have gone through with the Swift family—but I have little say in the matter. What can I do but force myself to remember? Try to imprint what I know on my soul, a thing that has no surface, no sides, no pages, no form of any kind. Carry it so deeply in the pockets of my existence that when I open my eyes and look down at my new hands with their thumbs that are able to close tightly around their fingers, I will already know. I will already see.

The door opens, and I hear him with his familiar cry, "Yo, Zo!" Usually, I can't help but put aside my pain and hoist myself to my feet, wag my tail, sling my tongue around, and shove my face into his crotch. It takes humanlike willpower to hold back on this particular occasion, but I do. I hold back. I don't get up. I'm acting.

"Enzo?"

I hear his footsteps, the concern in his voice. He finds me and looks down. I lift my head, wag my tail feebly so it taps against the floor. I play the part.

He shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair, sets down the plastic bag from the grocery that has his dinner in it. I can smell roast chicken through the plastic. Tonight he's having roast chicken and an iceberg lettuce salad.

"Oh, Enz," he says.

He reaches down to me, crouches, touches my head like he does, along the crease behind the ear, and I lift my head and lick at his forearm.

"What happened, kid?" he asks.

Gestures can't explain.

"Can you get up?"

I try, and I scramble. My heart takes off, lunges ahead because no, I can't. I panic. I thought I was just acting, but I really can't get up. Shit. Life imitating art.

"Take it easy, kid," he says, pressing down on my chest to calm me. "I've got you."

He lifts me easily, he cradles me, and I can smell the day on him. I can smell everything he's done. His work, the auto shop where he's behind the counter all day, standing, making nice with the customers who yell at him because their BMWs don't work right and it costs too much to fix them and that makes them mad so they have to yell at someone. I can smell his lunch. He went to the Indian buffet he likes. All you can eat. It's cheap, and sometimes he takes a container with him and steals extra portions of the tandoori chicken and yellow rice and has it for dinner, too. I can smell beer. He stopped somewhere. The Mexican restaurant up the hill. I can smell the tortilla chips on his breath. Now it makes sense. Usually, I'm excellent with elapsed time, but I wasn't paying attention because of my emoting.

He places me gently in the tub and turns on the handheld shower thing and says, "Easy, Enz."

Continues...
Excerpted from The Art of Racing in the Rainby Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Took Me So Long to Read This?

S.C.R. · July 18, 2015

This is a story told from the point of view of a very smart, very likable dog named Enzo. That's the hook in play here, and it works far better than I ever imagined. In fact, I'm taken quite by surprise at how much I love this book.I love my dog. I never knew I could love a dog so much before I met him, and maybe that's why I never gave this book a chance before. I'd seen it, of course. At Walmart and Barnes and Noble, it seemed like this book was everywhere I went for a while. I'd even picked it up and read the cover copy more than once. The title always grabbed me—I've been a racing fan for most of my life and I knew that the ability to drive a race car in the rain is considered the truest test of a driver's skill—but I had no interest in reading a story about dogs or investing any amount of time in a story told by a dog, no matter how many bestseller lists it ended up on.Not until my own dog came into my life.I purchased this book on sale for Kindle two and a half years ago and only started reading it yesterday. To be honest, I was scrolling through my cloud library and had forgotten it was there. I don't know that I even intended to start reading when I saw it, but I opened it and the hauntingly beautiful narrative that begins the story drew me right in. I read half the book on my iPhone last night. This is unusual behavior for me, as I usually don't read that much at a time and I never read on my phone. It's a testament to the easy writing style Stein displays but also to the power of this story.The story is simple. It's dark from the beginning, with constant allusions to the inevitability of death and the fragile nature of life right from the start.The book opens as Enzo, the dog, allows himself to succumb to failing health in the hopes that, once he dies, he will be reincarnated as a man. Knowing this is the last night of his life as a dog, he tells the story of his life starting from his puppy days on a farm, when a young man named Denny picked him out of the liter and purchased him from a mean puppy breeder.Of course, this is really Denny's story as told by Enzo. Through the narrative, we see that Denny is alone in the world, with dreams of becoming a professional race car driver and the talent to make those dreams come true. Early on, Denny falls in love with Eve and it seems as though the introduction of Eve into the home—coming between Denny and Enzo, stealing Danny's attention away from Enzo—will be the dramatic conflict around which the story unfolds. Denny and Eve marry, they have a child, and they are happy for a while. Then things go very, very terribly wrong for Denny and Eve in a Lifetime movies kind of way. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would be a forgettable tale overwrought with drama and depression. Yet Stein combines masterful storytelling ability with the clever narrative of unfolding the story through Enzo's eyes. This narrative truly breathes life into what could easily have been a dark, depressing story. Reading THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, one truly feels as though they are seeing the world through the eyes of a beloved dog.There's tremendous wisdom in the narrative. Motivational, self-help type wisdom. It comes at the most unexpected moments, a natural outcropping of the canine narrator's struggle to process events in the all-too-human world he's describing. There's also a great deal of discussion about racing. As a racing fanatic, I loved it the depth and accuracy of the racing parts. Most people really don't get racing, they think it's just a bunch of cars going in circles, but it's obvious Stein has been behind the wheel before and it translates into the narrative. For those who don't enjoy racing, the racing discussion may be a big of a drag, but it really does play into the story and the narrative. I'm not objective in the matter, so I can't say whether it would turn someone who hates racing away from the story.I have to say, I love this book. In fact, this book may have re-sparked a dormant love of literature.I use to be a veracious reader in my 20s but now in my late 30s I've found that most novels don't hold my attention. The last novel I read completely was THE ALCHEMIST, and before that... I'm not sure. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANIES, perhaps. Or A NIGHT TO REMEMBER. I've started many novels in the past few years and finished very few, mostly classics. THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN captured me in a way I can only remember a handful of novels doing in the past. It's a book I will undoubtedly revisit, and even as I type this, I cannot get the scene out of my mind where Denny takes Enzo for a test drive around Thunder Hill raceway, with Denny barking excitedly, encouraging Denny to go faster and wishing he could speak so he could tell Denny to take one more lap, that he lives for that one more lap... I, along with Enzo, want that one more lap to last forever.I mentioned at the beginning that I love my dog, a love that came upon me all at once and unexpectedly. Much like my love for this book. If anything, this book has only made me love my dog more, and I see similarities between Enzo and my dog. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go hug my dog tight and tell him I love him before going to bed tonight.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my Favorite Books Ever!

D. · October 2, 2025

I just re-read The Art of Racing in the Rain after more than a decade. A must read for anyone who loves dogs. Especially for those who love dogs and F1 racing.

4.0 out of 5 stars Couldn’t finish, but I’m sure this is a great story for some

W. · July 21, 2024

I’ve been nervous to read this book, since my doggie passed almost 9 months ago. In my heart, the heartbreak is still very fresh. As predicted, my eyes welled up in the first chapter. Hearing thoughts from Enzo’s (dog’s) perspective made me very emotional.“Racing” is within the title, and don’t know what I expected cause the dog on the cover was my focus, but the story brings up a lot of “racing” scenarios/analogies. I’m not a racing fan, so didn’t get a lot out of this due to my own lack of understanding the terminology, known drivers or the racing season.Turns out, the entire book is from the Enzo’s perspective. It’s different. I’ve seen my dog look outside with so much intensity, I wondered what could he be thinking. Now I have a sense. Ha-ha!!Enzo’s thoughts are so funny at times. I imagine all the facial expressions that come with it and it’s very cute. As a human, I’m also enlightened by how to be and/or have more consideration for our next 4-legged family member.It’s very hard to read the parts about non-dog people. Never trust people who don’t like dogs is my opinion.SPOILER ALERTI’m not fond of stories or situations that involve grandparents who are well off taking upon themselves to engage in a custody battle for their grandchild because they feel they know what’s best. Especially when the parent is loving. It frustrates me so much. I’m only half way and the situation makes it hard for me to continue. You see this coming, so it’s annoying when the parent doesn’t see it either. I mean… come on!! This plot has been done so many times. The first time you come across it, it sucks, but then third/fourth time, why put yourself, as a reader, through it? I’m choosing to now go read other reader’s comments (spoiler alert myself) to see if I’m right about a what the rest of the book is going to be about. In a nutshell, I’m right and not in a place to read the rest. I ended up speed reading/skipping most pages in second half.Although I didn’t read entire book, I’m giving 4 stars cause I have no doubt Enzo’s was by Denny’s side the whole time, till the end.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best read ever

K.C. · October 3, 2025

I normally don't read "dog" books because they make me cry. I cried. It was worth it. I'd do it again.

5.0 out of 5 stars As a lover of dogs, I laughed and I cried!

w.j.r.j. · October 2, 2025

Written extremely well. I enjoyed it immensely. Hard to beat Enzo as a narrator!Loved it from beginning to end.

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartfelt

K.C. · August 31, 2025

This is a book about love. And the strength to stay true to that love. Of course, Enzo, the dog is the glue that holds that love in place. It is such a feel good story. One I haven't had the privilege to read in a long time. I'm glad I took a chance on it and feel so much peace from reading it.

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely loved this book

R.B. · September 9, 2025

The book is different from how other books are written from the humans point of view.This book is written from the dogs point of view.The dog Enzo reminds me of my dog. I swear she understands me. She loves me in spite of my many flaws.

5.0 out of 5 stars could not put yhe book down

C.M. · September 19, 2025

So well written. You can feel the emotions . Loved the book. Loved Enzo. I will never look at a dog the same way again

One of the best books ever!

M.F. · October 11, 2013

I wasn't really sure what to think about a book of a story told by a dog. I first thought it would turn out childish or just not.. "real". But I was wrong. Once I started reading I always had to force myself to stop. I just didn't want it to end too soon. The story is so touching and funny and real.I was never a fan of races with any kind of vehicles and so was afraid that it would turn out to be too much about that topic, mostly about cars. But as soon as I started reading I understood, it was more like how much real life and race car driving are alike.I own a dog and really often looked down at her while she was laying curled up right beside me and thought, "Do you also think like that?". And probably every dog owner will find his/her dog in Enzo. Even if you don't own a dog you should read this story. Believe me you either want to read it a million times again and/or wish to have a dog just like Enzo.So for me it was the perfect story, I had to cry, I smiled, I was shocked, I was just IN the story, I felt connected to it, to Enzo's life, to Denny and Zoe's life. And such books are for me the best ones, the real ones. Not just a story told but all the feelings behind it.In the end it's totally worth reading, one of the best books ever. You will love it!

Libro stupendo 😍

J.F. · March 3, 2024

Una bellissima storia, scritto bene. Per amanti di cani e di Formula Uno non potete non leggete questo libro.

Emocionante.

V.F. · March 21, 2017

Livro recomendadíssimo. Mesmo que você não se interesse por cães a história, apesar de ser narrada por um cão-quase-humano, é muito interessante.Eu nunca fui fã de Fórmula 1 ou corridas no geral, mas as observações do livro sobre o tema são muito boas, mesmo para mim que não me interesso sobre esse tema. Gostei bastante das reflexões e mesmo do título do livro, que faz uma bela referência.

Gran obra literaria.

F.F. · August 19, 2023

Para los que son amantes de los autos y los perros nos permite disfrutar este gran libro.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ...EVER

B. · July 5, 2009

Wow, this truly is an unforgettable book that will leave you (kinda wrecked) and unable to look at dogs in quite the same way ever again. Garth Stein has managed to capture the inner workings of the dog perfectly here, the attention to detail and why dogs do certain things is amazing. This really is a look at our human lives as only a dog could see it. Enzo and his family will tear at your heart in many ways and on many different levels. Containing a wonderful, gripping storyline and characters that you'll become deeply attached to, this is a sad yet ultimately uplifting book.Don't be scared away by the title. The "racing in the rain" part of this book is a metaphor for life. Yes, one of the main characters races cars for a living and yes, Enzo refers to everything in his life by way of racing metaphors, but this book is so much more. It's about life and family, heartbreak and loss and ultimately joy, all as seen through the eyes of a dog named Enzo. Think (Marley & Me) only narrated by Marley not the humans.Enzo, wants nothing more than to be a man. On the eve of his death he tells what will amount to his master's life's story. Enzo has educated himself by watching too much TV, in particular Speed Channel and The Weather Channel. In his own words "the weather channel is not about weather it's about life."His happy family includes; Denny, an up and coming race car driver, Eve, his wife and their young daughter Zoë. Enzo's life is cheerfully routine until the day he smells the cancer that has come to rest in Eve's head. He can't warn her of course because dogs can't speak (Enzo continually reminds us of this) and as Eve's condition deteriorates their lives change forever. In the end Denny finds himself in a bitter custody battle that very nearly breaks him. Along the way Enzo must deal with possessed Zebras, the twins, hip dysplasia, hot peppers and demon crows all of which provided some great comic relief.I absolutely loved this book and I can't recommend it enough although I would suggest not reading the ending in public as it made me cry... a lot. I will certainly be visiting Enzo again soon and giving him to all my friends as well.

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