By Garth Stein
This book is a human drama told through the eyes of the family’s dog, Enzo, named after a race car driver. The main character is Enzo’s owner, Denny Swift, who is working at a BMW dealer and is working on his race car driving career. The book begins at the end of Enzo’s life, when he is old and ready to release Denny of having to care for him. He has a unique understanding of the human and human emotions, and has learned, through watching TV, that when a dog dies, his next form human.
He looks back to when Denny drives out to the farm and picks him out from a tangled litter of pups, and the story progresses from there to beyond Enzo’s death. It looks at Enzo’s relationship with Denny’s wife, Eve, their daughter, Zoe, and Eve’s parents, who Enzo calls “the twins,” and the complicated relationships between the family after Eve dies from a brain tumor.
Throughout the book, Denny shares his love of racing and racing strategies with Enzo, and Enzo applies them to life. The title comes from Denny being one of the best drivers in the rain because he knows how to work with the rain instead of against it.
I had to read the book because I love the title, and it was worth the read. The book is well written, and has all the elements of a good drama. It is filled with a combination of funny, heart-warming, sad, frustrating and joyous moments. It also does a fairly good job of looking through the eyes of a dog, though sometimes it makes the dog a little too human.