The Puppy Diaries

Raising a Dog Named Scout

By: Jill Abramson

Narrated by: Beth MacDonald

An instructive and marvelously entertaining chronicle of a puppy's first year, by the executive editor of The New York Times

One sparkling summer day, Jill Abramson brought home a nine-week-old golden retriever named Scout. Over the following year, as she and her husband raised their adorable new puppy, Abramson wrote a hugely popular column for The New York Times's website about the joys and challenges of training this rambunctious addition to their family. Dog-lovers from across the country inundated her with e-mails and letters, and the photos they sent in of their own dogs became the most visited photo album on the Times's site in 2009.

Now Abramson has gone far beyond the material in her column and written a detailed and deeply personal account of Scout's first year. Part memoir, part manual, part investigative report, The Puppy Diaries continues Abramson's intrepid reporting on all things canine. Along the way, she weighs in on such issues as breeders or shelters, adoption or rescue, raw diet or vegan, pack-leader gurus like Cesar Millan or positive-reinforcement advocates like Karen Pryor.

What should you expect when a new puppy enters your life? With utterly winning stories and a wealth of practical information, The Puppy Diaries provides an essential road map for navigating the first year of your dog's life.

©2011 Jill Abramson (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“A worthy addition to the crowded so-called dogoir genre… Ms. Abramson writes with intelligence and grace and never descends into the saccharine… [Her] voice is bighearted and surprisingly down to earth as she and her husband forge a stronger bond with Scout at their side.” —John Grogan, The New York Times

“Jill Abramson had me at ‘woof'… Scout is a doll, all right, but Abramson lives up to her resume as one, um, dogged journalist… It shares so many fears, frustrations, misapprehensions and joys with child-rearing that you could drop a kid's name in some passages instead of ‘Scout' and it would make perfect sense.” —The Los Angeles Times

“Part memoir, part manual, the New York Times executive editor's account of her beloved golden retriever's first year is like a good dog trainer--affectionate and instructive.” —O, Oprah Magazine

just average

for those of us who have dogs, there's really nothing new here ... 2 empty nesters get a puppy.

The personal touch of the reader added

What made the experience of listening to The Puppy Diaries the most enjoyable?

I love dogs; and I loved sharing it with the author

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Puppy Diaries?

Her decision to go with another dog to help her heal her body

Have you listened to any of Beth MacDonald’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

Keep up the production of new books