annieb123's Review of The Speckled Beauty

by Rick Bragg

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All Over but the Shoutin', the warmhearted and hilarious story of how his life was transformed by his love for a poorly behaved, half-blind stray dog.

Speck is not a good boy. He is a terrible boy, a defiant, self-destructive, often malodorous boy, a grave robber and screen door moocher who spends his days playing chicken with the Fed Ex man, picking fights with thousand-pound livestock, and rolling in donkey manure, and his nights howling at the moon. He has been that way since the moment he appeared on the ridgeline behind Rick Bragg's house, a starved and half-dead creature, seventy-six pounds of wet hair and poor decisions.

Speck arrived in Rick's life at a moment of looming uncertainty. A cancer diagnosis, chemo, kidney failure, and recurring pneumonia had left Rick lethargic and melancholy. Speck helped, and he is helping, still, when he is not peeing on the rose of Sharon. Written with Bragg's inimitable blend of tenderness and sorrow, humor and grit, The Speckled Beauty captures the extraordinary, sustaining devotion between two damaged creatures who need each other to heal.

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Speckled Beauty is a beautifully written memoir by Rick Bragg of his life in the aftermath of a lymphoma diagnosis and the life changing entry of a badly behaved injured dog into his life. Released 21st Sept 2021 by Knopf Doubleday, it's 256 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a touchingly honest and really engaging memoir about a guy and his dog. Life isn't always perfect but it can be wonderful despite everything. Speck isn't a perfect dog (far from it, he pees on flowers, goes where he shouldn't, destroys things with wild abandon, drags revoltingly smelly deceased wildlife onto the porch, rolls in poop, makes messes, and howls at all hours). He and Bragg found one another and managed to redeem one another in profound ways.

Throughout the reminiscences and funny stories, the lyrical prose is shining and lush. This is a gorgeously written book full of beautifully turned phrases. Definitely a solid pick for library acquisition and fans of memoir. This would also be a great choice for readers who love rescue stories and pet memoirs. This is a book readers will want to revisit.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Speckled Beauty

by Rick Bragg

Reviewed by annieb123 on Sep 21, 2021

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