Tell Me Where It Hurts, by Dr. Nick Trout

I'm sorry, Dr. Trout. I liked this book, I really did! However, you're not a very good writer. Again, sorry.

You try really, really hard, and I find that COMMENDABLE!  Sometimes, though, too hard. Sometimes the jokes were a little contrived. But, I could totally see what you were going for, so I TOTALLY appreciated the effort.

Also, although I thoroughly enjoyed all the stories about animals that you've treated, by the end of the book I had trouble keeping them all straight. I wish that instead of writing this as if it's one typical day in your life as a vet, with repeated flashbacks to other animals in addition to the ones you treated during this "day", that instead you had just started on one animal and stayed on that animal until his/her story was finished. Near the end you "run into" another doctor and her recently deceased patient, and she tells you that the owner had finally consented to euthanasia, and I had NO IDEA who she was talking about. It wasn't until I was discussing this point in Book Club this morning that I finally remembered "Ohhhh! That dog!"

And the statistical information--while interesting and informative--drew away from the rest of the book. I admit that halfway through the book I was merely skimming these passages.

I want to stress that I like this book. And, I want to point out that this book made me extra-aware of how much I love my dog, and sometimes I'd scratch her ears and noogie her head and think very seriously about laying down in the driveway with her and giving her belly rubs, even though she smells like a cesspool (not my fault, she LOVES stagnant water and I can't afford a fence).