Maura: Well, it was a love-fest for this book; readers laughed and cried and told stories about their own pets and debated the meaning of the zebra and couldn't get enough of Enzo. Again, thank you so much for doing this, and on behalf of our thoroughly besotted readers, thank you for this book.
From Kathleen Harris (the editor who led the discussion this month): I made my husband read this book (which he loved) and he said he had a question for Garth: Did you always intend to write a book from a dog’s perspective?
Garth: Yes. That was the very first premise. I used to make documentary films and many years ago a film came across my desk called "State of Dogs." It was made in Mongolia and it was about the belief among the nomadic people of Mongolia that the next incarnation for their dogs will be as people. I thought that was a cool idea, but I didn't know how to build a story around it. Years later, I heard the poet, Billy Collins, read one of his poems that's told with the voice of a dog who's recently been euthanized. When I heard that poem, I thought: "That's it! I can tell the story of a dog being reincarnated as a man if I tell it from the dog's point of view!"
Q: Why a zebra?
Garth: I find zebras to be duplicitous. A lion or a teddy bear just wouldn't have the same impact.
Q: Where does all his [Garth’s] knowledge of racing cars come from? Is it a hobby?
Garth: I raced on the club level with SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) for a few years, and had a great time doing it. The people in racing are very nice, and since there's a lot of downtime on a race weekend, they really do sit around talking about how to improve as a driver from a mental perspective, or how to "tighten the nut behind the wheel," as they say in the paddock. My life is too busy now to race, between family and writing. But one day I'll get back to it, I'm sure.
Questions from Real Simple Book Club Members:
Kristin: First, I want to let Garth know how much I liked the book despite my original hesitancy to read a book written from the viewpoint of a dog. I intend to buy at least one copy to give as a Christmas gift this year. I would be interested to know who his favorite authors are and what his favorite book or book(s) are.
Garth: That's a very difficult question, as there are so many books and great authors! I will tell you that I feel my writing has been most influence by the theater. I think there's something great about the immediacy of drama on the stage, and I like to capture some of that in my novels. My top list of playwrights would sound something like this: Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, Bertolt Brecht, Tom Stoppard, Sam Shepherd....and my list could continue for a while....
Lotte: Did Enzo see this zebra as living, or are we to see it that way? Wasn't it just another stuffed animal in a bunch of stuffed animals? This was an excellent book. I particularly liked the fact that it was seen from a dog's point of view. Mr. Stein, was this difficult for you to do—have everything coming from Enzo's mind? I would think that could get confusing to a
writer.
Garth: I rarely, if ever, answer questions about the zebra. I really feel the concept of the zebra is different for everyone, and each reader should draw his or her own conclusions about the Zebronic themes that occur in the text. That is, if your own personal zebra will let you....
As for the second question, it wasn't difficult at all. I didn't think of Enzo as a dog. I thought of Enzo as a character, and I knew his goals, his wants, his needs, his fears. For me, as a writer, he
could have been a chair or a stick. As long as he has a burning desire to achieve something and must confront obstacles in his path to success or failure, the form of his body is simply the physical manifestation of a soul in action.
Jody: Kudos, to Mr. Stein. You left me bawling in my kitchen, and burning dinner because I could not put the book down. My question is this, where do you find your inspiration? We all hit the wall as writers, how do you move past it? What is your muse?
Garth: My inspiration comes from the characters themselves, I think. When I know the character, he or she seems to encourage me onward. As for "hitting a wall," when I see the wall coming, I take some time to plot out my story in a detailed way. By doing this, I can force myself to write something. It may not be any good, and it may not make it into the book, but I'm writing. And as long as I'm writing, I'm doing something; I'm solving something. If I'm not writing, I'm not solving anything!
Cassandra: Mr. Stein: Who is YOUR Enzo?
Garth: Enzo is a singular character. I have a dog, yes. But she's no Enzo. She's a little too silly and sweet. Let me put it to you this way: she has a few more lifetimes to live as a dog before she's ready to return as a person. Unless you could guarantee that she could come back as a ball girl at Wimbledon. She's awesome with a tennis ball!
Susan H: Do you feel at any point during the story that Enzo was questioning the strength of Denny? If so, why and what made him move past it?
Garth: The hero must falter. The hero must face a crisis. This is the nature of drama. In this story, we have two heroes: Denny and Enzo. Denny's crisis comes in the battle for custody of his daughter. Enzo's crisis comes in his doubting Denny's steadfastness. They both must overcome their crises, or be consumed by them.
Jenn: I noticed that the dog on the cover does not match the description given in the book- any reason for that?
Garth: The dog on the cover is Everydog. It's not supposed to be literal. If you look at my website, you can see some of the international covers, and each culture uses a different look for Enzo. That's part of the fun of it!
Cassandra: The book indicated that Enzo is a mix between a shepherd-poodle/terrier father and a lab mother. How would Enzo be different if he were purebred? Would the story be different if he were a Doberman? A Dachshund? Also, did you name Enzo after Enzo Ferrari?
Garth: To the first question: I have absolutely no idea, and it kind of hurts my head to think about! To the second: Yes, he was named after Enzo Ferrari.
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