While the picture of the dog on the cover might suggest this is a book for dog-lovers, this is mainly a book about one woman’s journey through depression. In this memoir, the reader comes to know and love the dog, Bunker, because the author loves Bunker, but Bunker doesn’t become a player until halfway through the book.  The first half of the book alternates between the author’s childhood and youth experiences that had an emotional impact on her and possible contributions to her self-image and depression.  Once Bunker enters, the telling is fairly linear.

The author shows courageous honesty in sharing deeply her experience with depression; she seems to hold nothing back.  This book is recommended for those interested in learning a bit about what it feels like to have major depression, those who know someone dealing with this challenge, and those who are themselves living with depression.  Although it is a book about depression, it is ultimately hopeful in tone and that is largely due to the love the author had for her dog and how he helped her.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Penguin

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  19 religious exclamations; 6 mild obscenities; 2 religious profanities; 8 derogatory names; 15 scatological words; 12 anatomical terms; 33 F-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore:  Child is violently bullied to the extreme by an older brother; child is threatened with serious injury by older brother; older brother beats up a ten year old sister and threatens to kill her; thoughts of suicide; individual wanted to jump from a moving car, in front of a bus; child witnesses family pet hit by vehicle and killed before her eyes; operations on a pet, with some descriptions of procedures; individual contemplates what could go wrong in surgery on a pet; parent tells about the deaths of his parents (general, age/illness related).

Sex/Nudity:  Someone is called a whore; called a lesbian (intent to insult); individuals embrace and kiss; adult is mentioned to have slept around; adults are mentioned as sleeping together sometimes; individual says she had many orgasms with a particular boyfriend; individual had fantasies about having sex (general in nature, non-descriptive); individual reported naked, running into a room w/ a “skank”; report of having sex; teenage brother tells teenage sister that she was dancing at a party like she wanted to have sex; individuals were “fooling around”, making out, spending time in each other’s bedrooms, etc., but “nothing below waist”; individual has one-night stand sex, scene, no description; individual lays on top of another and kisses her; seventeen-year-old tells parents how she lost virginity (no details).

Mature Subject Matter:

Mental illness, depression, sibling abuse, suicide, euthanizing animals, personal crisis.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adults smoke and drink at bars, parties, and keggers.