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What are readers saying about Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog?
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-29 10:20:52.
(Language: English)
 
Told in first-person narrative, the book portrays Grogan and his family's life during the thirteen years that they lived with their dog Marley, and the relationships and lessons from this period. Marley, a yellow Labrador Retriever, is described as a highly strung, boisterous, and somewhat uncontrolled dog. He is strong, powerful, endlessly hungry, eager to be active, and often destructive of their property (but completely without malice). Marley routinely fails to "get the idea" of what humans expect of him and at one point the comment is made that mental illness might be a plausible explanation for his behavior. His acts and behaviors are forgiven, however, since it is clear that he has a heart of gold and is merely living within his nature.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-12 01:17:35.
(Language: English)
I enjoyed this book - definitely a "family" story - Marley is hysterical. A very eloquently written story by a seasoned newspaper reporter. He shares from his heart and makes you understand dogs (pets) in ways you never have before.It's a fun read - about a family and their dog...and so much more...about marriage, babies, and man's best friend. Humorous - some hilarious stories throughout, and I'm not even done reading it yet. The movie should be good - if they kept to the book's script....
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-06-28 02:53:31.
(Language: English)
LOVED this book! I have never laughed or cried so much while reading just one book...it was so well-written, funny, sweet, and touching. I will always be a sucker for a book about a dog :)
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-21 12:10:33.
(Language: English)
I can't wait to see the movie. Get a kleenex for the last 4 chapters. I didn't just cry, but sobbed, wept. My children are my dogs and it is such a shame that they have a short life span. But for the short while they are here, what a joy and a blessing they are in our lives. This book completely captures the essence of true dog owners. Everyone should read this book before owning a dog to fully grasp what a dog in your life is like. Be ready to be captivated and fall in love with Marley.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-03 10:18:52.
(Language: English)
I only read this book because Madeline was given it as a present and it was lying around. It was okay, but not exactly my cup of tea. As a dog owner I could definitely relate to the joy, frustration, anger, empathy and ultimate sadness of owning and living with man's best companion. The book did rekindle memories of some of my favorite dogs. Glimpsing the life of a common family was okay, but I never really felt the author connected and drew the reader into the family. It was more like they were neighbors, 3 houses down. Overall it was a somewhat slow read with a very predictable ending. Good for between book reads, or if your memory needs a jolt about some of the pets you may have owned.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-05 06:07:40.
(Language: English)
i thought this book was wonderful. i had a do that looked and acted just like marley and i miss him every day. if you are a dog lover you know what i mean. he was my child, and a piece of me died when he did. this book made me remember not only the good things but the bad things about sunny. it helped me put things into perspective. our animals may not always be the best behaved but they will always love us no matter how mad we get at them, and they will always be our friend.
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Mary posted a review at 2010-05-16 01:38:57.
(Language: English)
You gotta love animal books- especially ones about hyper little yellow labs named Marley!! Probably goes down with the award of the book to make me cry the MOST that I ever have at the end of a book, and let me tell you, that is not an easy feat since I cry at everything. The movie was terrific too, and it stuck right to the book, which always makes watching a movie about one of your favorite reads ever that much more enjoyable.
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Laura Lea posted a review at 2011-07-14 09:35:47.
(Language: English)
you'll cry harder when you read it than you did at the movie!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-08 03:59:51.
(Language: English)
A great book for the whole family to read. This book is about a family who adopts a yellow lab named Marley. When mayhem occurs as Marley the small puppy, grows into a ninety-seven pound full-grown clumsy dog with a powerful tail that can knock the breath going outout of a bear, this is one four-legged disaster that the Grogan house may not be able to handle without help. With children coming, and Marley of control, it maybe more than the Grogan family can control.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-16 10:15:12.
(Language: English)
This book tells the story between a family and their dog. I'm writing this review because I want to discourage watching the movie. After reading this incredible book, one that really explained fully the true love one can have with their beloved dog, the movie focused primarily on Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston. I couldn't watch the whole movie, in my opinion it was a true disgrace to the message John Grogan seemed to be sharing with the readers. Read the book....please skip the movie. But when you read the book, stop short of the last few chapters right before you go to bed...really turns on the tears.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-23 10:18:41.
(Language: English)
I just finished Marley and Me. I picked it up last weekend at Borders (Seattle Airport) while I was waiting for my flight home. Being an avid animal and dog lover, I couldn't pass it up. Needless to say, I devoured the book in a week. I loved it. To me it was so refreshing to see such commitment in another dog owner. I have always believed that when you adopt a pet it should be part of the family, and it is a lifelong commitment. You don't give up and get rid of them, just because of hard times or problems. I applaud Mr. Grogan, and his family, for being the kind of people who love and care for their dog friends and for writing such a heartfelt tribute to his pal, Marley. Pets ask for so little and return so much. All in all, Mr. Grogan's writing is clear and interesting and down to earth. I couldn't put the book down. It is a joy. Do yourself a favor and read the book.....you'll close it in the end and your heart will feel like it is too large to fit inside your chest.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-11 08:11:19.
(Language: English)
The bond of human and animal cannot be simply photographed to be felt... It is one experience that words are worth more than a thousand seconds in a film. John Grogan's love for this animal and his family pours forth in simple, beautiful, and fully relatible writing style that is breezy to read and easily sweeps you into the warmth and heartache of having an otherwise indescribable bond with a dog. Marley and Me , in its written form, is truly about the infinite value this dog brought to his family's life. It is truly about the animal's impact on the lives of his people, where the movie lost this sentiment often. The movie is cute, but is more about man and his family. It seems that the dog is more eye-candy and a humorous relief in the movie than the center of the story. It is a shame, as this book is truly a gem and captures the tenderness and depth of the human-canine bond.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-12 04:50:48.
(Language: English)
OMG! THIS is a MUST-READ ... It is NOT just a story about a dog, or dogs in general ... This is a book about LIFE ... It was THE MOST ENTERTAINED I've been in a very long time. Non-fiction has never been SO FUN, SO SAD, SO, SO, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH -- The funny thing is that had I not seen the author's (John Grogan) "sequel" (The Long Road Home) before Christmas 2008, I probably never would have read this book, and might have gone to the movie without ever realizing the movie is based on a real family's life experience with, quite frankly, an amazing dog. But, as luck would have it, I never did get the 2008 sequel for Christmas, and when I went back to Border's Book AFTER Christmas to find it, I found Marley & Me sitting next it The Long Road Home, in the, now not a new-release (nor promotion for the new release of the movie), and therefore, no longer in the front of the store on the "BUY ME" tables ... As luck would have it! You MUST read this book, and, I'm guessing John Grogan's sequel will be of the same caliber --
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-18 10:21:04.
(Language: English)
It's only funny if you're not the dog. This a heartbreaking rendition of misunderstanding between people and dogs. The poor dog Marley is kept locked in a garage all day and dragged along on a leash morning and night (I quote Grogan's training mantra: "lunge choke, heel, breath; lunge, choke, heel, breath). The dog is medicated (and abandoned) through thunderstorms, trained for it looks like a maximum of 12 hours, and Grogran tries to convince us it's the dog who is crazy. The dog isn't crazy. This is a heartbreaking portrayal of the everyday misunderstood plight of pet dogs in typical family homes. It's supposed to be funny, warm and full of compassion, but what hits me as a trainer is the evident suffering and mistreatment of, and lack of full appreciation of the animal.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-24 07:58:37.
(Language: English)
I just finished this book last night and I cried like a baby at the end of it. The dog is adorable and it reminded me of my own dog. Many times, like John Grogan, I found myself hiding the messes my dog made just so that my husband would not get rid of our dog. The family is not as likable and they're boring. The book was good, but I did not find it to be a "must read" like everyone claims. The only reason I finished it was because of Marley. Many times I felt like Grogan was going on about things just to fill pages, not because they added to the story.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-22 05:30:00.
(Language: English)
I put off reading this book for years because of all the people who said they sobbed through it. With the movie coming out, I knew I would want to read the book first, so I broke down and bought it, and it was well worth it. This book made me laugh out loud (quite literally) no less than every 5-10 pages. I won't say it wasn't sad, but I will say it wasn't tragic, so you can put the book down when it's done, and still feel good. Excellent book, an easy read, and very, very funny.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-19 08:43:07.
(Language: English)
OK I hate this book. A lot of people I know love it. Here's why you shouldn't. 1) Marely isn't even poor dog much less the worst dog. 2) Marley's owners are whiny, annoying people who are so self aggrandizing you should be rooting for Marely to disembowel them in their sleep. 3) This is not a book about a dog - it is a book about an annoying guy and his equally annoying wife. One can only assume their spawn were really annoying too. 4) Jennifer Anniston was cast in this movie. Enough said. 5) This is so badly written, so insipidly constructed and so skin irritatingly annoying that it should have never been published. The amount of effort that must have gone into making this book readable should have been used to fix the US Economy rather than churn out this trite, useless skin flap of garbage.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-25 06:58:47.
(Language: English)
Heartwarming story about the world's worst dog. I started reading it with a sense of dread (I hate books that you know it will make you cry) and I ended up falling in love with Marley all the same. I found myself laughing my butt off one minute and on the verge of tears the next. Skeptical, I didn't want to read it, but in the end, there's never been a book more near and dear to my heart.
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Pete posted a review at 2009-01-10 12:52:47.
(Language: English)
I cannot believe somebody wrote a book about having a dog and it became a best seller and on top of that it was made into a movie. Only in America I tell you. This book was eh, ok I guess. I honestly only read it because someone gave it to me on CD and I had no other stories. The writing was good but it is amazing how fast he skipped past the puppy years. Marley was a puppy for about 30 minutes on the CD. Other than that it was a story about an average man with an average dog really nothing special. Grogan closed with a very sappy ending but I am the kind of guy that will tear up faster for a dog than a human anyways. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but it did occupy me for 3 days with no huge complaints.
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Sacha posted a review at 2009-07-21 12:22:04.
(Language: English)
(BEWARE: Kind of a spoiler.)It's funny to imagine such a terrible dog being so wonderful. But he really is. It took me 2 weeks to read through the end. Because, as many people who read true stories about dogs know, it tends to end with their death. I didn't want to say goodbye to this loveable trouble maker. This story is incredibly sweet and hillarious. I think we all hope to have a dog in our life that touches our hearts the way that Marley did for the Grogan family.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-20 08:57:06.
(Language: English)
I read all but the first couple of chapters while sitting at my doctors office FOR 5 HOURS! so, the fact that the Grogans and Marley kept me company during what could have been a really irrritating time may have added to my affection. . . But, if you love or have loved a dog like they are truly a member of your family and not just a pet - you will laugh out loud and shed some tears! Great book. [close] becasue I have to read the book before I see the movie!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-20 09:44:37.
(Language: English)
I read this book before the movie came out (so it wasn't the movie edition) and it was easily one of the top three funniest books I have read in my entire life. There is a point in the middle where there is a table incident that I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my cheeks. It wasn't the last time I had tears running down my cheeks reading the book, either. This book is a delight from beginning to end and although I love the movie, I am glad I read the book first, the book is better.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-02 05:25:28.
(Language: English)
Owning two yellow Labs of our own this was a very touching story. I questioned Johns lack of Dog smarts at the beginnng and thought much of Marleys 'issues' could have been prevented had John taken more of a 'Master' role. But still...I really enjoyed the story. Made me cry. Our labs are of that age too and dread what will soon come.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-24 09:09:28.
(Language: English)
This was a great book filled with funny little anecdotes about Marley, the yellow Labrador. As a lab owner twice over, I can relate to this book in so many ways. Labs are one of the goofiest breeds out there for sure! The saddest part, of course, came at the end with Marley slowing down, and eventually joining the big dog park in the sky. I really liked John Grogan's writing style as well. I think the honest and always entertaining way he tells a story contributes to this book's success. I would be interested in reading some of his columns from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Any dog lover will devour this book. It is an excellent read and will probably go down as one of my favorites.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-13 10:57:11.
(Language: English)
I just finally finished reading a book called Marley & Me By John Grogan. The world’s worst dog will bring out the best in their family. It would take a heart of stone to resist Marley & Me. Heartfelt and frequently hilarious. Marley is a great and memorable dog, and in the hands of a winter as observant, unsentimental, and piercing as Grogan, this is a human-canine journey dog lovers will want to take. It took my breath away. I laughed. I cried…What a gift. If you know someone who claims there’s not a book in the world that can make him cry, give him this one. It won’t even matter if he’s not a dog lover. He’ll cry anyway. Trust me. The heartwarming unforgettable story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life. This book is a good book. Funny at times and sad towards the end. It goes in to more detail than the movie. Which the movie is good too. Sad at the end. The book ends in a happy way. It is based an a true story. Some times it sounded like he was talking about my dog Sedona that was a black lab. Though she was not as bad a Marley. It is a great book. It mad me miss my dog Sedona. I would recommend read this book. Hope you enjoy!
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