Product Description

There's no love quite like the love of a golden retriever. Anyone who has experienced this unique, wondrous relationship, or who simply enjoys a beautiful tale of the affection between people and their very special dogs, will fall in love with Arthur Vanderbilt's unforgettable memoir of a doting retriever named Amy and the seasons of joy she shared with those around her.

She had golden eyelashes, a fondness for Vermont cheddar, and a worn-out slipper she never tired of bringing to those she felt sure needed it. From the time she was an eight-week-old puppy, Amy considered herself in charge of the Vanderbilt family: making her round of bed checks each night, greeting long-absent members of her human pack with effusive affection, carefully bartering brand-new shoes for one well-chewed rubber frog.

Returning all the affection lavished on her--and then some--Amy led her family on marvelous outings from her seashore summer home: sun-filled sailing expeditions on the Bay, languorous beach walks and surf swims, moments of great pride at having uncovered and retrieved a dead, malodorous sand shark or having won the hearts of a gullible group of tourists. And anytime Amy had to be left behind during her family's evenings out, she would lapse into a sulk worthy of the very best Hollywood leading ladies.

Set on the outer shores of Cape Cod where Amy romped and rollicked, this tenderly told love story illustrates what a golden retriever can teach us about ourselves and the world we share. As her longtime human companion muses: She had taken us places we never would have gone and shown us things we never would have seen without her. Had we understood everything she showed us? Everything about fairness and faithfulness, about unconditional friendship and loyalty and love? "Sing praise" had been her message. "Bark and shout with joy! We are alive in the wonder of today."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #231559 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

From Kirkus Reviews
A love song to a departed golden retriever, keen and tender, from Vanderbilt (Fortune's Children, 1989). Vanderbilt's parents had a dog much beloved by the whole family. Amy was her name, and she possessed all the best characteristics of golden retrievers: She was personable, emotional, enthusiastic, mischievous, always with an eye for fun. Vanderbilt was grown and gone by the time Amy entered the household, but his many summer vacations at the family place on Cape Cod allowed him to enjoy the dog to the fullest. Amy's exploits are the nub of this short remembrance: how she would make nightly rounds to check on her charges; nuzzle a rotting sand shark to partake of its evil perfume; herd the family back to shore when they went for a swim in the ocean; show a bit of her roots during a towel-tugging contest with a bristle and fierce growl; how she failed as a seadog (actually it was Vanderbilt who failed as a seaman) but knew how to throw a baleful look when she was not invited along on an outing, getting all morose and hurt. Vanderbilt twines her story with concisely rendered elements of Cape Cod history. One moment he will reconstruct in his mind's eye a grand hotel in Chatham, Mass., and the next tell the story of Squanto, the Native American who saved the Pilgrims during that first cold winter of 1621. Or he will delve into the natural history of the horseshoe crab while offering it up for Amy's inspection, then remember that it was off this particular beach in 1918 that a 213-foot submarine of the Imperial German Navy broke the glassy surface of the sea to fire upon a tugboat, the only enemy attack upon the US in WW I. Through it all romps Amy. Good dog, lovely book. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"A touching book about a wonderful dog."
--Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, bestselling author of When Elephants Weep

"The beauty of this small but mighty book is Vanderbilt's ability to find the right words to describe the incredible charisma and boundless joy of his golden retriever and the love they share."
--The Sunday Star-Ledger, Newark

"Golden Days is not only an eloquent tribute to a cherished animal but a love song whose tune will resonate in the minds of pet owners everywhere."
--The Cape Codder

"Once someone has had the good fortune to share a true love affair with a golden retriever, one's life and one's outlook are never quite the same again. A warm afterglow remains that lasts a lifetime. The author is fluent in that language."
--Betty White

"This well-written reminiscence will appeal not only to dog lovers but also to naturalists and those interested in Cape Cod."
--Booklist -- Review

Review
"A touching book about a wonderful dog."
--Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, bestselling author of When Elephants Weep

"The beauty of this small but mighty book is Vanderbilt's ability to find the right words to describe the incredible charisma and boundless joy of his golden retriever and the love they share."
--The Sunday Star-Ledger, Newark

"Golden Days is not only an eloquent tribute to a cherished animal but a love song whose tune will resonate in the minds of pet owners everywhere."
--The Cape Codder

"Once someone has had the good fortune to share a true love affair with a golden retriever, one's life and one's outlook are never quite the same again. A warm afterglow remains that lasts a lifetime. The author is fluent in that language."
--Betty White

"This well-written reminiscence will appeal not only to dog lovers but also to naturalists and those interested in Cape Cod."
--Booklist

Customer Reviews

Memories of a golden, too
I found this book at the university bookstore a few weeks after losing my own 13 year old golden-retriever. As I began, tears immediately began to fall but soon they were replaced by smiles and bursts of laughter as I was pulled into the lives of the characters and the wonderful dog, and I was flooded with memories of my own Baron boy. This book is for anyone who has been blessed enough to share their lives with a special golden retreiver, or anyone who doubts the joy a dog can bring. Vanderbilt's book is an honest, from-the-heart portrayal that captures the spirit of the breed.

Universal Appeal
I agree with all the glowing reviews Golden Days: Memories of a Golden Retriever has been receiving, but I see something else in this book that no one else has mentioned yet--an added dimension that, I believe, gives this book its universal appeal. I think the author has written something much more than a book about a wonderful dog named Amy. Behind that captivating story is a meditation on the inevitability of the passage of time, almost an inquiry into the meaning of time and memory. Look at it: all the action takes place in a tiny geographic area, maybe a square mile at most. Very subtly moving across this canvas are the people whose lives touched this square mile--from prehistoric man to Indians and Pilgrims to pirates and finshermen and World War I aviators. Way behind the scenes there's a reference to great-grandparents, and grandparents and parents. A day in the past, the author seems to be saying, was their time, today is ours, tomorrow others will walk these same beaches, and that will be their day. I think it may well be this very quiet undercurrent that gives this slim book its punch and unforgettable power. I'd be interested to hear if any other readers have felt this too.

A Brilliant and Moving Book!
I will admit right off the bat that the Chatham neighborhood that Amy and her human family inhabit is also my neighborhood. But I am sad to say that I never met Amy who sounded like a wonderful dog. All dogs are wonderful, in my book, and certainly in Arthur Vanderbilt's book "Golden Days." This is one of those tales where, although you know how it ends, you still weep at the end. Months later, certain scenes-- such as Amy's unusual love of bananas-- stick in the memory so that you feel you really knew Amy. "Golden Days" is a book about a golden retriever and it's also about those golden days of summer in a certain special place that Arthur Vanderbilt knows very well. I recommend this book for anyone who has ever cared for a dog. For anyone who has ever loved Cape Cod. In fact, I recommend this book, which is profoundly moving without being sappy, to everyone!