Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain | Martha Sherrill

Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain | Martha Sherrill | Book Review: Dog Man by Martha Sherrill

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Dog Man: An Uncomm...

	Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain Martha Sherrill Penguin Press HC, The, 2008 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent reading

I bought this book prepared to like it purely because it included the subject of akitas. It surpassed all my expections by far. The writting is wonderful. Great memories clearly presented with beautiful photos throughout. I will be recommending it to many of my doggy set friends. Even though it encompasses alot about the history of the akita, it is a story about so much more than dogs. It is about a life well lived and convictions, even at the cost of financial security in hard times. Bravo to the author for sharing the story with such grace.

Book Review: Dog Man by Martha Sherrill

Dog Man: An Uncommon Life On a Faraway Mountain by Martha Sherrill The Penguin Press New York 2008 (Hardbound, ISBN 978-1-59420-124-0, $25.95)

Reveiwed by Jim Stembridge

Morie (Mor-ee-ay) Sawataishi is living an honorable life, some would say a spare existence, in the far north forests of Japan. Aside from episodes involving his pre-World-War-II stint with the Japanese navy in Manchuria, and his hydro-electric dam project management with the Japanese giant Mitsubishi, the chapters of Morie's life can be seen in the succession of his dogs. We follow Morie's life on the edge of the forest, spare of luxuries, but rich in close symbiosis with a beautiful, if rugged, part of the world.

Morie, during the strife of the World War, decided that it was his destiny to save and propagate the iconic Japanese dog breed, the Akita. But the few Akitas remaining in those early days were ill-defined. Their desirable traits had yet to be agreed-upon, so there was much competition among breeders. Long face? Round face? Long legs? Short? Loose skin? Tight skin? Red with white markings? All white?

For Morie, whose life away from work is all wilderness, primitive living, and hunting, what's desirable in an Akita is kishô, an almost indefinable boldness, courage, loyalty, and presence. But kishô is found only rarely, especially these days, Morie would say, when dogs are bred to look pretty or, worse, to just make money from sale of the puppies. From "No-Name" and "Three Good Lucks" through "Samarai Tiger" and "Shiro", we meet Moriie's Akitas with kishô, and follow Morie's efforts to define and develop the breed.

"Morie and his dogs were heroes every morning, and heroes again every night. With each walk into the wild, they were bold and resourceful. They were alive and alert, their senses acute, poised for the natural excitements that the rest of us must crave when we turn to flickering screens for adventures and when we ache to connect with nature and animals. We yearn for the company of dogs because they return us to an ancient way of life, vanishing now."

Martha Sherrill, whose celebrity profiles were wll known to readers of The Washington Post, did extensive interviews of Morrie and his wife, Kitako, and their adult children, traveling to Japan in 2006. The story's contexts of Japan following the war, Japanese family life, dog breeding, and rural electrification seem genuine. The result is an endearing story of an honorable life--dreamy descriptions, written in spare, precise language, bold and resourceful---kishô.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4

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