On the Wild Side: A Guest Post by Markus Zusak
Markus Zusak, the treasured gem of a writer, tells the rich and rollicking tale of three wild dogs and their loving adoption into a family perfect for them, even if it didn’t seem perfect at first. Read on for an exclusive essay from Markus on writing Three Wild Dogs.
Hardcover $27.99
Three Wild Dogs (and the truth): A Memoir
Three Wild Dogs (and the truth): A Memoir
By Markus Zusak
In Stock Online
Hardcover $27.99
In this poignant, funny, and disarmingly honest memoir, one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs—a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals family.
In this poignant, funny, and disarmingly honest memoir, one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs—a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals family.
“You’ve gotta write about your dogs!”
People have been telling me that for over a decade because of the part they’ve played in my life. Essentially, they’ve been legends. Two of them, Reuben and Archer, I describe as gangsters, gunmen, soldiers…but there were maps to hearts of gold. Frosty, the third dog standing, is a walking, rolling thunderstorm.
There’s a definite notoriety when you choose your animals on the wild side. My wife, my kids and I have never been able to commit to a pure-bred or designer dog. Nothing against those breeds, or their humans, but someone has to take the pound dogs. Sure, they come with baggage. But that baggage is born for stories.
In my case, my dogs have somehow made me, or at the very least, remodeled. There have been wild and lawless mornings, and dog-day afternoons. They’ve been a mirror to my wilderness within, and my human attraction to anarchy. After all, why do we have children? Why do we take on too much work, or coach an unruly football team? Disruption tests our heart. It also leads to connection. We know that’s where our stories are.
But, oh, those infernal dogs! The humiliations and the heartbreak…but then the sheer, unadulterated comedy, and humbling, giant love. (Watching your big brute of a dog, for example, slow down when your three-year-old daughter is handed the leash is something to behold…) There’s great spirit in their lives, and tragic glories in their death. Strange as it sounds, one of the highlights of my life is careering down the motorway at four in the morning, screaming at Reuben, my dog, in the back: “Don’t you die, you bastard, don’t you die on me now!” And him, likely thinking, “Oh my God, I can’t even die in peace.” It summed up our ten-year relationship…As I often say: a dying dog is precious. Forget diamonds, pearls and any other worldly treasures. Give me fur and stink and pleading eyes, and the sad warm dog in your arms.
Ultimately, there was a purity to writing this book. It reminded me of being sixteen again, deciding I wanted to be a writer. My first attempt at non-fiction, I wanted to write freely and without veneers; I wanted it to feel like you’re in your best friend’s kitchen, and they say, “Boy, have I got a story for you!” And it is a hell of a story – not just about our animals, but love and laughter, loss and loyalty, and the choices and meaning of family. And the joy of living intensely.
The last thing I’ll say is that not every dog owner has had the police turn up at two in the morning on account of their animals, but they know exactly what it all means. After all, if it’s true that our lives flash before our eyes at the moment we die, one thing I know for certain – my dogs will be in that light.
