With a comic reserve and an inspiring, Snoopy-esque philosophy, Winslow, a purebred Terrier, takes Zippy, a vagabond Jack Russell mix under his guiding paw in upper-class suburbia. In the form of letters to Grandma Vivienne, Winslow narrates as his little sis is undone by her energetic mischief. What do you expect from a rain-soaked scruff found beneath a Baltimore pretzel truck? You’ll delight in their adventures!”
—Brandon M. Stickney, author, The Five People You’ll Meet in Prison: A Memoir of Addiction, Mania & Hope
“Please Write is a charming, lovely, sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious book about dogs and the people who love them. It is a gift to dog lovers everywhere.”
—Julie Klam, New York Times Bestselling Author of You Had Me at Woof
“You’ve heard of literary lions. What about corresponding canines? Who knew that dogs could type?! The letters Zippy and Winslow write to their Grandma Vivienne are funny, sad, and absolutely believable as they reveal a very human story, told in the context of love. This is the perfect book for all those people who’ve gone on trips and secretly wished they could phone their dogs.”
—Martha Teichner, CBS News Correspondent and Author of When Harry Met Minnie: An Unexpected Friendship and the Gift of Love Beyond Loss
“In Please Write, author J. Wynn Rousuck has created an intimate tale about coping with hardship and loss. She threads her tale with charm and hope and a touch of whimsy, reminding us that even in the most difficult situations, laughter is an essential antidote to worry. For comfort and companionship, look no further than the adorable Zippy, the rescue dog who helps rescue her human owner from the profound sadness of grief.”
—Diane Cole, Author of After Great Pain: A New Life Emerges, A New York Times Notable Book
“Oh my goodness. J. Wynn Rousuck’s Please Write is not just a pleasure to read, it’s a sheer delight. What a splendid, sly, daring act of imagination—a perfectly executed bildungsroman about a puppy! I laughed so often and so loudly that I managed to annoy my kind husband. I’ve already recommended it to friends, and will force it upon them if they don’t run out and get it. No one with a heart and a sense of humor should miss this book. (I will add that I read a few pages from it to my own dog. She is no longer a puppy, but she retains vivid memories of her own puppyhood and nodded in recognition more than once.) Perfectly titled, Please Write is charming, shapely, wise, hilarious, true, and deeply satisfying. What a brilliant, lovely book. I will never forget it—and I fear I may never shut up about it, either.”
—Ellen Pall, Author of Must Read Well
“J. Wynn Rousuck’s whimsical and waggish epistolary novel Please Write presents a conversation in letters between a doting grandma, a longtime loyal pet, and a rambunctious puppy who’s away at canine camp…The book is focused more on charm than it is on developing its plot; its narrative is an exercise in ongoing, good-natured warmth. It sustains the central conceit of human-pooch missives well. Still, despite its lighthearted tone, it also touches upon serious subjects including illness, grief, and alcoholism, with the grandma character often sugarcoating such matters for the dogs. Its heartbreaking ending is well foreshadowed but still surprising and poignant. The creative and fun epistolary novel Please Write shows the special bonds shared by dogs and their owners, delving into the hearts of each.”
— Foreword Reviews/Clarion
“Charming typewritten letters connect a wise grandmother and two dogs with distinct, endearing personalities in Rousuck’s novel… A witty and poignant exploration of the connections between dogs and their humans.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Told entirely in the exchange of letters, Please Write chronicles the correspondence between Winslow the Boston Terrier, Zippy the terrier mix, and Vivienne, the later ego of a recently widowed Cleveland artist. This quirky, whimsical, and heartwarming novel delivers an engrossing and charming story of coping with heartbreak and loss through love and the power of imagination.”
—Connie Wilson, Editor-in-Chief, Modern Dog magazine
“Eloquent, original, inherently fascinating, and a fun and humorous read from start to finish, and it’s all the more impressive considering that it’s author J. Wynn Rousuck’s debut as a novelist. It is unique and deftly crafted, and I unreservedly recommend it for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections. I also unreservedly recommend it for personal reading lists for anyone with an interest in epistolary fiction or for anyone who has a canine companion of their own.”
—Susan Bethany’s Bookshelf (Midwest Book Review)
Oh my goodness. J. Wynn Rousuck’s Please Write is not just a pleasure to read, it’s a sheer delight. What a splendid, sly, daring act of imagination—a perfectly executed bildungsroman about a puppy! I laughed so often and so loudly that I managed to annoy my kind husband. I’ve already recommended it to friends, and will force it upon them if they don’t run out and get it. No one with a heart and a sense of humor should miss this book. (I will add that I read a few pages from it to my own dog. She is no longer a puppy, but she retains vivid memories of her own puppyhood and nodded in recognition more than once.) Perfectly titled, Please Write is charming, shapely, wise, hilarious, true, and deeply satisfying. What a brilliant, lovely book. I will never forget it—and I fear I may never shut up about it, either.
2023-11-09
Charming typewritten letters connect a wise grandmother and two dogs with distinct, endearing personalities in Rousuck’s novel.
Winslow, a “very formal” Boston terrier, first strikes up a written correspondence with his grandma Vivienne after his owners rescue a mixed-breed puppy from beneath a pretzel cart. It’s 1990, and the married pet owners, Pamela and Frank, are going through rough patches: His dependence on alcohol is increasing, and she’s grieving her recently deceased father. The rambunctious puppy, Zippy, is initially resistant to “Puppy Kindergarten” training and is a persistent irritant to Winslow, who doesn’t hesitate to express his humorous annoyance in letters to Grandma Vivienne. Soon, however, Zippy matures into the family’s nurturer; this growth is cleverly mirrored by Zippy’s evolving letter-writing skills, which move from mashed keys to sporadically capitalized simple sentences, follow-up questions, and reflections. Midway, the narrative settles into a slower, somewhat monotonous cadence as Winslow’s owners face mounting adversity and the dogs are dispatched to kennels they despise. But it’s in these moments that Grandma Vivienne’s heartfelt letters, filled with gentle optimism and warmth, are revealed as the novel’s emotional core. She’s going through some difficult times herself but focuses on lifting the dogs’ spirits and affirming their indispensable roles in the family. As she tells Zippy in a particularly moving passage, “There are times in life when sad things happen for no apparent reason. It can be especially helpful to have a dog like you around at these times.” Humorous interludes—such as Zippy’s excited attempt to develop a correspondence with Millie, President George H.W. Bush’s dog, and his disappointment when President Bill Clinton brings a cat to the White House—help to lighten the mood as the novel moves toward an affecting ending.
A witty and poignant exploration of the connections between dogs and their humans.
