The Boy Who Talked to Dogs: A Memoir
By: Martin McKenna / Narrated By: Aaron Abano
Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
The Dirty Dog Gang raises a boy
First, Aaron Abano really rocks this narration of The Boy Who Talked to Dogs. He makes it seem like we’re listening to a rollicking Celtic tale of a feral boy finding his way in the world, a boy brought low by misunderstood ADHD and an alcoholic father, a boy raised high by his inclusion into a pack of dogs who will do anything for him, mostly give him a sense of self.
(Speaking of Celtic tales, Martin as a boy REALLY haaaaates how St. Patrick rules the roost in Ireland. He thinks the wimpy man wussified what had been a proud Irish culture, ousting Celtic heroes Martin loves hearing about! So, the addition of this audiobook to our St. Patrick’s Day celebration is a taaaaad ironic, no?)
So, you’ll love Abano’s narration, but the story is wonderful too, even tho’ it’s somewhat heartbreaking as well. This is a boy who has suffered greatly at the hands of his father, other kids, school teachers. He’s been shamed in the worst way, beaten to within an inch of his life, ostracized like crazy to the point where he chooses to withdraw from most social life. The world has done its worst to him, and he figures that barely surviving the elements, all the time with a gnawing hunger at his belly, is preferable to the way he’s been treated.
And it turns out that dogs just gravitate to him. He often gets ticked off that when he’s FINALLY found a bit of food for himself, THAT’S when a stray and hungry dog will find him. He can’t help it, though. If he has food, he’s sharing it out to whatever mongrel needs it. This earns him a pack of six dogs, the Dirty Dog Gang, who will protect him from cruel ways. Dogs have always been his protectors and companions, and at 13, they become his only family as well.
Along the way, Martin learns how to speak dog. He discovers through observation how dogs comport themselves within doggy society. And in one humorous scene, he comes to realize that he’s the low-man on his pack’s totem pole; it’s a situation which enrages him. All along, he’s thought his pack has just been so happy to see him, with their enthusiastic bouncing and jouncing, licking and flicking, only to realize they’ve actually been smearing their scents onto him, dominating him. He goes to great lengths to become alpha dog, and it’s a smart and wily process.
The Boy Who Talked to Dogs is a heartfelt and well spoken account of a life that would’ve been sad without his friends. It’s also a harsh indictment of man’s inhumanity to the weak and the “different”. But Martin is such a plucky thing, with his insolent tongue and his fingers that “tremble” to do mischief, it’s a wonderful audiobook. The 7+ hours truly flew by as I listened to Martin’s stint as a feral boy, and I totally had a lump in my throat by book’s end. Hard choices have to be made, and I really, really, REALLY wish that there was a follow-up memoir available.
Alas! We have only the Dedication at the beginning to hint that Martin made it to a fine adulthood. So I guess that’ll have to be good enough…!
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