Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey with an Exceptional Labrador
By: Stephen Kuusisto / Narrated By: Fred Sanders
Length: 5 hrs and 24 hrs
Very good, but I must admit that I have my reservations
I dunno. Maybe I would’ve liked Have Dog, Will Travel even more if I didn’t work with blind and visually impaired people. I’ve seen firsthand how guide dogs are perceived as merely equipment—sure, ya gotta take care of your equipment, but that doesn’t mean ya have to treat the dog with any affection or true consideration. So I s’pose I looked upon the whole thing with a rather jaded eye.
Plus, I wanted more about Stephen’s life with his dog, Corky, about how his world was expanded and made richer.
Have Dog, Will Travel was the pick for our audiobook club (‘twas my turn), and once again I relied verrrrry heavily on the Publisher’s Summary which suggests it’s a “delightful story of how a guide dog changed his life and helped him discover a newfound appreciation for travel and independence.” Soooooo, I was thinking there’d be sweet and clever anecdotes about how he and Corky interacted with each other and helped each other out, with love, in a brave new world.
Uhm, not so much. Turns out Kuusisto was doing fairly well, all things considered (there IS an anecdote where he zips along on a Vespa or something whilst on holiday with his chums, using the shapes and colors of his buddies as guides), but he found himself, his life in a rut after being axed from his job for asking for adaptations to be made in regards to his visual impairment (this was before the days of lawsuits, OBVIOUSLY. So he applies for a service dog and gets one.
There follows stories about aaaaaall the trips he’s taken as far as advocacy for the blind goes, but little of it has to do with Corky. And there’s plenty about his horror show of a mother and how, even when he’s excited about getting a guide dog, she’s all: Nooooo! Oh, don’t! People’ll think you’re blind.
Which still instills in him anger, and even a residual sense of shame is reignited.
But Kuusisto has an amazing support system, a terrific sister, and need I say it? Corky rocks!
Again with the Publisher’s Summary: This is supposed to be a deeply moving and profound book, but really. Aside from some INCREDIBLY GREAT zingers he comes back with in response to idiots, I expected more and better wordplay from a man who’s a poet.
Gee, this is all making it sound like I actually didn’t like it. But it’s not the book, it’s me. Oh, and uhm, it’s the narration too. Fred Sanders, never one of my favorites, kinda blows through the narration as though he really doesn’t care about the written words, the story, the characters. So when all is said and done, Fred Sanders is stiiiiiiill NOT one of my favorites.
But if you’d like an introduction into how guide dogs for the blind came to be, and if you’re interested in the politics of disability, you’ll find noooooo better book than Have Dog, Will Travel. Some interesting stories, and it’s really, really, REALLY good to hear about someone who absolutely ADORED his dog and wasn’t afraid to make a squeaky, loving, baby voice whilst cooing words of affection to her.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.