Product Description

Steven Winn and his wife, Sally, held out for as long as they could. When the San Francisco couple finally gave in to their only child Phoebe's pleas for a dog, they adopted a scraggly terrier mutt from a local animal shelter. The new family pet, Como, turned out to hate men—especially the author—and proved to be a cunning escape artist. Traumatized, single-minded, and exceptionally clever, Como was bent on breaking Winn's sanity and self-respect, his bank account and his heart.

Come Back, Como is the story of one man's hilarious and poignant quest to win the trust of a dog who wanted nothing to do with him. With humor and pathos, Winn describes the maddening but ultimately rewarding effects Como had on his family, the misadventures and ordeals and terrifying events he and his dog endured together, and the greatest lesson Como taught him: that loving a dog can make us more human.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104374 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Released on: 2009-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061802591
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"A delightful story about the joys and deeper meanings dogs bring into our lives." (Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author )

"Even people who don't much care for dogs, and I am one, will be moved and entertained by Steven Winn's story of pursuit and rejection and renewed pursuit between man and pooch. Its real subject, transcending species, is the struggle for understanding between minds and hearts." (Adam Gopnik, New Yorker staff writer and author of Paris to the Moon and Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life )

As a man owned by a dog, I read this book with delight, merriment, and deep sympathy. And when I reached the most touching parts, there was my dog's head, in my lap -- he knew I had a heart all along. (David Thomson, author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film and Try to Tell the Story: A Memoir )

About the Author

Steven Winn is an award-winning journalist and fiction writer who spent many years as a staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle. A Philadelphia native and founding staff member of the Seattle Weekly, he held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in fiction at Stanford University. His work has appeared in Good Housekeeping, National Lampoon, the New York Times, Parenting, Prairie Schooner, Sports Illustrated, and the Utne Reader. He lives with his family in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Me & Marley Take 2 (And Every Bit as Good)
It's impossible not to compare this w/Me & Marley. If you enjoyed that book, you'll love this one, too. The main difference, I think, is that the author and his family play a larger role in this book (which is just fine). He explains their (the parents') family history with dogs, and there are a lot of emotional/psychological issues involved before the dog even turns up. Then, the author really struggles with the fact that the dog prefers (by far) his wife and daughter, and his attempts to lure the dog to the leash by sitting on the toilet in helpless mode are quite amusing. All of the human beings in this book receive much more air time than the folks in Me & Marley (I read that one recently and can't recall much about the family; yet I am unlikely to forget this engaging family of three any time soon). His descriptions are great; you can really imagine the Australian savior at the vet and the unnamed heros who help him catch the dog. You can feel his mixed sadness as his daughter blossoms from a tween to a full-blown teenager any parent would be proud of. You can picture the neighborhood and smell the tacos his wife brings home for lunch. The writing really invites readers in. It's an easy, memorable read, and I would definitely recommend this to all. (And I'd recommend saving a shelter pet, too. Hard work but worth every minute!) Share this one with your friends.

This is a SIX-Star Book
This amazing story is like a braid, woven of three parts.

The first is Como, an unlikely family dog who hates confinement and loves his freedom so much that he risks his life on a regular basis. The second lock of the braid is about the Winn family, a warmhearted and very principled group of three, itself with a challenge, that of continuing responsibility and even love for what quickly turns into a maniacal little creature who destroys crates or cages, carpet, baby gates, and anything else that hampers his freedom.

And the third strand of the woven braid is the story of what it really MEANS to bestow familyship upon a trying little dog. The author gets a double whammy by realizing that Como, probably due to some experience when he was a stray, hates men. Steven is not spared. As Como comes to love Steven's wife Sally and their daughter Phoebe, he refuses in the first months to have anything to do with Steven. Finally, it happens, and Como escapes, running in front of a car, and though it's only afterwards, when we know Como has survived some serious surgery and recoup time, we are left with an enduring (and endearing) picture of the author, tearing wildly down the San Francisco streets in his bathrobe.

By the time an almost lifeless dog is scooped up in Steven's arms and rushed to the vet, there is more blood, from survival bites, on the author than on the dog. The escape is the result of workmen in the house not closing a door, but the guilt the author piles on himself is heart wrenching.

For anyone who has ever loved a dog, or loved a child who loved a dog, this book deserves a good spot on a prominent shelf. If you don't have to wipe at some tears, you may not be getting it. But on a higher note, you will be rewarded with smiles and sudden cries of laughter that you will remember for some time.

Sweet and tart story of a little dog
The story of Como, was a sweet yet tart story of a shelter rescued dog. Steven Winn did a good job on writing this book. Steven and his family took Como in and Como came in like a tornado.

The unlovable loveable dog, with all his quirks, was my hero. Maybe it was his longing for the outdoors. Maybe it was just wanting to be free. Como was the free spirit of the animal world, much to the disapproval of Steven. But slowly, ever so slowly, Como would change Steven. Little increments; Steven lying down in the middle of the street near Ortega Street, in the busy bustling city of San Francisco, staring up into the sky. Como had started changing Steven right then. Would Steven ever had done that before? What about walking with his friend Mark? It doesn't seem likely that would happen had Como not been around. So many little increments that slowly changed Steven. Como would teach Steven on how to let go, be free. They would come to love each other, or should I say, understand each other.

There were trying times too. Como loved to take off running into the streets and an accident ensued which left me on the cliff because we all know those dog stories of old and it usually doesn't turns out well. When I read Como didn't take the anesthesia well, my heart was on the edge. I thought something I didn't want to read was coming. I don't want to spill any spoilers but it took awhile before I could sigh a breath of relief.

If I were to change anything about the book, it would be the long explanation of prior animals that lead up to Como. I would have liked to have read a lot more of this quirky little dog instead. Otherwise, I found it a nice, eventually sweet, story. Go Como go! Let your heart be forever free!