Biography - My Life in Dog Years

Paulsen, G. (2003). My life in dog years. Waterville: Thorndike Press.

 

 

Author Gary Paulsen chronicles his life according to the dogs that he has owned in this heartwarming, biographical book, My Life in Dog Years. Paulsen admits to always having a dog during his life, and at times, many dogs at once. Dogs have played various roles in his life including savior, companion, body guard and parent. There is no question in the reader's mind that the theme, or the main point of the book is to inform his readers of the importance of his dogs and to pay homage to them. We see this in the first chapter which is about Cookie. "Everything that has happened in the last seventeen years.....I owe to Cookie. This book is dedicated to her memory."  Paulsen does not necessarily structure his book sequentially, although some of this is evident, but rather the book is structured by description. Each of the nine dogs are described in detail. Their physical qualities are described, but it is Paulsen's description of each dog's character that is so moving. At the end of each chapter, the reader is left laughing, crying, or in awe because of what each of the dogs have done. In his telling if Ike, we find out that Ike belonged only temporarily to Paulsen because he really belonged to a man who was fighting in the Korean War. The veteran tells Paulsen that when he returned from the war, wounded, "he (Ike) was waiting there and spent the rest of his life by my side." Anyone who has ever loved a dog, should read this biography of Gary Paulsen, as seen through his dogs' eyes.