Review: Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs (by Jennifer Finney Boylan)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

This is one of those books that I struggled a bit to rate, mostly because the writing was uneven in some parts – it’s hard to describe, but the closest explanation I can give is that the author, Jennifer Finney Boylan, would be describing a scene from her childhood, but then interrupt that scene with thoughts on something else related to it, then come back much later and attempt to finish describing the scene (I say “attempt” because there were a few times where I felt like I was left hanging, as I didn’t recall reading about how a particular scene ended).  This made Boylan’s story a little hard to follow at times, which is a pity because her story is a fascinating one and being a dog-lover myself, I loved the premise of Boylan recounting her journey through the dogs she had owned at different stages of her life.  With all that said though, aside from the jumping back and forth, I did like Boylan’s writing style overall, as I found it witty and engaging – not only that, I also admire how Boylan never shies away from being brutally honest about her experience and is able to express so candidly (and eloquently) her thoughts about the most difficult moments in her life. 

One of the things I appreciate most about this memoir is the fact that, as a transgender woman, Boylan’s life is obviously very different from mine, but yet, many of the feelings and emotions she struggled through on her journey were things that I could absolutely relate to – for example:  love for and obligation to family, to the point of sacrificing our own individual needs to fulfill theirs; the constant battle between being true to ourselves versus conforming to society’s norms in order to be accepted; the blurred lines between being “happy” versus being “content”; the reality that human emotions are, by nature, contradictory and complex, etc.  There was a lot of potential with this one and I think if the book had been structured a little differently, it would’ve been a lot more powerful.  Or perhaps the fact that this is Boylan’s third memoir and not having read her first two memoirs (which my understanding is that she recounts her journey in much more detail), this may be the reason why I felt a bit lost reading this one.  I would definitely be interested in reading Boylan’s first memoir, entitled She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (published back in 2003), as it would perhaps help fill in the gaps for me.

Overall, I’m glad I got the chance to read this one.  I’m a huge advocate of reading widely and this includes reading about experiences (as well as people, places, beliefs, cultures, subjects, etc.) different from my own and/or what I may be used to.  For this reason, I would recommend others read this as well, if anything, for better insight and understanding of the LGBTQ perspective.

Received ARC from Celadon Books as part of Early Reader program.