Who Saved Who

By Roslyn Cohn

Tampico Press, 2023

Genre: Non-fiction

Pages: 150

Via: Blog Tour

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“We save dogs, Roz, that’s what we do.”

This is the story of a woman who loves dogs. So far, so good. Here’s the main book blurb:

Roz begins the book with her unique parents and upbringing which is so crucial in understanding both her and her journey during 2022. She shares some terrific life lessons her folks instilled in her, takes us on a quick recap of her next two decades with some of their beloved family dogs who saw them through difficult times, and quickly lands us in her 2022 – full of twists and turns that no crystal ball could ever have predicted.

While living in a post-Pandemic world, the author puts her career on hold and with politics and the environment in a persistent state of toxic tension, there was little left of life to be desired. So believed Marin County raised and NYC-ripened actress Roslyn Cohn. … Roz’s upbringing ultimately helped pull her through 2022, a year that challenged her will to live and bestowed upon her the biggest life-affirming gift ever.

Along the way the author chronicles the loss of her two dogs Fluke and Diva, who died six months apart. She later welcomes two new shelter/rescue dogs, Maui (female) and Kona (male). Shortly thereafter, eight puppies arrived (Kona was not the father. He’s the “uncle.”) The final pages are pretty much a variation of wash-rinse-repeat as the last of Maui’s “pup pups” are fostered/adopted.

Dog lovers will enjoy this. Other readers? Maybe not so much.

Lacking

We’re huge dog lovers. But even we found this tiresome after a while. Is the text enthusiastic? Of course. Passionate? Absolutely. Full of emotion, vim and vigor? Yes, yes, and yes. But the writing lacked some essential elements. Like discipline. And maturity.

Nuts

One thing that drove us nuts is how the author continuously projects human traits, characteristics and qualities onto her dogs. It’s way over the top. Yes, we know your dog is brilliant. (Hello, Kimber!) The most beautiful and amazing creature to ever walk the planet (Hello again, Kimster!) But dogs are canines, not humans in fur coats. Hello?

“When humans adopt dogs and bring them into our lives and homes, most of the time we have the dogs best interests at heart. We try to give them what it is we think they need. The problem is that we are making assumptions based not on what canines need but on what humans need. By humanizing dogs, we damage them psychologically.”
― Cesar Millan, Cesar’s Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems

Wrong Way

When don’t necessarily agree with Cesar on everything doggish. But he’s spot-on here. So this book rubbed us the wrong way. It also tosses out enough sappy-sweet nicknames to give a body sugar diabetes. Dial it back already!

Speaking of which, this book is packed with emotion – so much so that some readers may feel the emotion overwhelms and dilutes the dogs’ stories. Also, the reader barely has a chance to come up from air after the last Crushing Loss when they’re flattened by another. In terms of pacing, it sometimes feels like the story was tossed in a blender. Whirled on frapee. And poured out on the page. It’s exhausting. Or just Too. Much. Information. Some of the language also exceeded the parameters set forth in our Submission Guidelines. So additional demerits there.

On the other hand, the writing style is fresh and brisk. The tone is chatty and breezy. And if one dog is rescued and finds a forever home from this book, then it’s definitely a worthwhile read.

Select Issues

In terms of things bookish, however, issues include:

• Common and proper noun confusion.
• Improper capitalization.
• Mixed POVs. Sometimes the author is talking to the reader. Sometimes she’s talking to her deceased parents. Sometimes she’s talking to the dogs. Or her deceased dogs. Conversations aren’t indicated with quotation marks.
• There’s no dialogue. Zip.
• The narrative reverses the cardinal rule of Show, Don’t Tell with a whole lot of Telling. And pretty much only telling.
• The timeline is challenging. It’s not exactly linear.
• The text bounces back and forth between present, past, and future tenses. The author tries to excuse/rationalize this with basically, “That’s just me.” It doesn’t work. Not if you’re going to take this book seriously.

The Result

Indeed, the result of All of the Above is a story that’s big on heart but lacking in discipline and maturity. That’s gonna grate on some readers.

Kindly note that None of the Above is the dogs’ fault. Their stories deserve better talent and tighter writing. So we won’t be rating this book.

Too Woo-Woo

Finally, we had high hopes for this book. It has good potential. In the end, however, it’s just too “woo woo” for our taste. You may love it. But it’s not our cuppa. For more mature books about rescue dogs, consider:

‘I Chose You’ Wins Prestigious Award

How a Rescue Dog Saves Her Human in ‘Gabby”

“Will You Love Me?” Offers Powerful Story of Dual Healing, Hope

DAWGS: Inspiring True Story of Animal Sanctuary