![Ever By My Side: A Memoir in Eight [Acts] Pets](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320403863i/9593774.jpg)
| Title | : | Ever By My Side: A Memoir in Eight [Acts] Pets |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0767932005 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780767932004 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published February 8, 2011 |
"The lessons that these animals taught me have been subtle, startling, and inspirational, playing a small but vital part in helping to shape the person you see with the stethoscope around his neck." - Dr. Nick Trout
New York Times bestselling author Nick Trout has captivated readers by taking them behind the scenes into the heartwarming - and sometimes heartrending - world of veterinary medicine. In Ever By My Side, Nick turns the lens inward to offer a funny, moving, and intimate memoir about how the pets he has had throughout his life have shaped him into the son, husband, father, and doctor he is today. Using his relationships with those beloved animals to tell his life story, Nick shares the profound lessons he's learned about friendship, loyalty, and resilience. The result is a moving story that speaks not just to animal lovers, but to any reader who appreciates the bonds we have with our loved ones, be they animal or human, and the lengths to which we go to nurture those bonds.
Nick waxes nostalgic about his boyhood in a working-class British suburb, where a large German shepherd named Patch was the perfect companion to a scrawny, bookish boy in a neighborhood full of bullies. He writes about his relationship with his father, the man who nurtured Nick's dream of becoming a vet, even though he couldn't have imagined the career would lead his only son 3,000 miles away. He describes wooing his future wife and stepdaughter and (perhaps most difficult of all) their ornery cat. And he offers a poignant chronicle of his daughter's devastating diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and how a little yellow Labrador retriever played an important role in bringing joy to their family when they needed it most. Alongside Nick's warm reflections, the pets in these pages come alive as irresistible characters in their own right and showcase the power of animals to offer a lifetime of consolation, guidance, and abiding affection.
Ever By My Side: A Memoir in Eight [Acts] Pets Reviews
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The author of this heartwarming memoir had me hooked by page 8. He shares stories of how animals have had a profound impact in his life and on his human relationships - with his father, as a father himself and husband, and as a veterinarian. It made me laugh and cry with the memories of my own loved pets. I highly recommend for animal lovers, young and old and for book groups where it would raise some interesting discussions.
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I absolutely loved this book. I am a great James Herriot fan and this book has the same powerful attraction as Herriot's true-life stories as an English country vet. Dr. Nick Trout is a small pet surgeon. His background is English as is Herriot's. I was concerned before entering the pages of the book because the title is "Ever By My Side: A Memoir in Eight Acts". "Acts" has been crossed out and "Pets" replaces the word "Acts". I wasn't sure I could face the devastating loss of eight animals. In stories of one pet dying, I often have to set the book aside for a few days before I can face what I know is to come. This is a book about love of pets and family.
My favorite passages and notes to myself about the book:
"He didn't tell her off. He didn't curse her out. Dad held on tight to her scruff, reattached her leash and turned to Jack Shepherd, giving him the kind of resolute stare that transmits gratitude and a tacit appreciation of a stranger's gift, a second chance he thought he might not get."
"Sometimes," said Dad when he arrived home and relayed the story. "'a still tongue makes a wise head.'" (p. 108)
The real James Herriot was a man named James Alred Wight. (p. 113)
"Whiskey and Bess, I thought, brother and sister, and now son and daughter, the replacements for me and Fiona. Maybe it is inevitable, the transition of pets into surrogate children for empty nesters, the kids who always want to stay home. Perhaps this was what I had noticed most about my sporadic visits over the years, the increase in direct verbal communication between my father and the dogs, as though he wanted to share his thoughts with them and even sought their input, their approval. Was this part of a natural evolution in the relationship between a man and his dogs or was it a sign of isolation and loneliness?" (p. 151)
"...professional experience has taught me that I often fare better after a thorny encounter if I use preemptive communication. My inquiry as to his dog's health caught him off guard but, begrudgingly, he sounded somewhat grateful for the follow-up." (p. 233)
Not only are chocolate and alcohol poisonous to dogs but also ground-coffee. (pp. 264-265)
This book is a keeper. Buy copies for friends or loan your copy out but be sure that you get it back. It is worth rereading. -
I enjoy Nick Trout's writing. His stories are funny, sad, and touching in equal measure. The criticism I have on this book isn't with the writing or form of the story, but rather a choice that Nick Trout made. He promotes animal rescue and is on the board of an animal rescue organization. However, he has two purebred dogs, and while it's not elaborated upon where the first one was obtained, the second was from a breeder (presumably the first was as well). He makes the excuse that his sick daughter wanted a purebred yellow lab puppy, and if the dog were for him, he'd adopt from a rescue, but he couldn't let his daughter down who kept repeating, "Yellow and Labrador." I feel like this could have been a really good teaching moment for him. 1) Dogs should not be obtained solely for their appearance. The dog's temperament is a much better indication of a good fit for a family as opposed to "but she's so cute!" 2) Rescuing a dog saves 2 lives. You save the life of the dog that you adopt, and by adopting you make room for that shelter to be able to rescue another. Having a sick daughter is not an excuse to give into her every whim. You would think a sick child could understand the importance of saving a life in a way that a healthy child couldn't.
Nick Trout portrays rescue dogs as being defective (a rescue dog wouldn't be good enough for his daughter!) and dogs from a breeder as being perfect. I would argue that point as purebreds often have more health problems due to generations of inbreeding. I have 3 mixed breed rescue dogs myself, and I can attest to the fact that they make wonderful family pets. Dogs don't end up in shelters because they failed their humans. They end up in shelters because humans failed them. With the vast numbers of dogs that are euthanized every single day in shelters across the US, I cannot justify anyone going to a breeder for a family pet. Shame on you Nick Trout! -
I’ve always been a fan of Nick Trout’s animal stories, so I really enjoyed this engaging and touching story of the authors life. It really makes you think about the effect we have on our loved ones, and how important it is to hold these relationships dear.
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Good book and a quick read.
Heartwarming stories of the animals in the care of Dr. Nick Trout. He also talks about his early pets.
Some stories will make you laugh and some cry. -
Nick Trout is a veterinarian who was born and raised in England but moved to the States after vet school graduation. While Duncan, his father, was pleased and proud his son wanted to be a vet, Duncan had dreams of him living the country life of James Herriot. Alas, this wasn't meant to be because Nick moved to the States, fell in love and got married and made a life there.
When Nick was young, Duncan loved dogs but his mother did not. After a lot of convincing, the family finally got a German Shepherd named Patch. Unfortunately Patch wasn't trained well and wasn't very social around people or other dogs. But Duncan loved Patch and Patch was definitely Duncan's dog. After Patch's passing, his family got two more dogs, Whiskey and Bess. Whiskey and Bess loved Duncan and again they were definitely his dogs.
Nick moved to the States and met Kathy, who had a young daughter named Whitney and a cat named Reggie. Nick was never a "cat person" and it took a long time for Reggie to warm up to Nick. A small dog named Sophie came into the family and became Whitney's dog. Their younger daughter, Emily, has cystic fibrosis and wanted a dog of her own so that's how Meg, a golden lab, came into their lives.
This book is about the pets Nick has had in his life, including his grandmothers' dogs (one dog was nice and the other was nasty) and the lessons he'd learned from them and the experiences he's had with them. I like reading books about animals and have read a couple others by this author. I liked the writing style ... it was funny at times. I found his stories and experiences interesting.
Blog review post:
http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2019/09... -
Often funny, always sweet, and Simon Vance narrates! ‘Nuff said…!
My Full Review -
Sweet, light, quick. Not especially deep or profound, but just a nice read. They don't all need to be profound or intense, do they?
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Read this for the library reading challenge to read a book with an animal on the cover, or as a main character. We listened to most of it, but the last disc skipped so badly, I had to finish the book by reading the paper copy.
Trout channels James Herriott in this memoir about the dogs and pets in his life. But it is also a heartwarming story about his relationships, especially with his father.
After being without a dog for several years, I thought this might trigger a renewed interest in getting another collie. Yes, my husband has been online looking for one.
Suggest this book for people wanting a heartwarming book, who can handle pets dying, for pet lovers, set mostly in England countryside. -
Dr. Nick Trout is a veterinary surgeon practicing at Boston's MSPCA Angell Animal Medical Center. He's written some charming books about his experiences with patients; this is an equally charming book about his experiences with his own pets, from the first much-loved but inadequately socialized German shepherd growing up in England, to current pets shared with wife and daughters here in New England.
In addition to the family pets, we meet Trout's family, his dog-loving father, and dog-tolerating mother and sister. If the mother is somewhat more than "tolerant" of dogs, and plays an active role in choosing at least some of those dogs, she's not going to admit it. At least not for many years!
His father, though, is a real dog-lover, although many "dog people" will cringe at the lack of training the Trout family dogs receive. He's also a huge fan of James Herriot, reading the books and watching the BBC tv series religiously, and is thrilled as Nick becomes interested in a veterinary career. He comes to imagine a future with Nick as a country vet a la Herriot, and himself as Nick's practice manager, in the Yorkshire countryside. It's a vision that Nick doesn't embrace, especially once he's in veterinary school and discovers the challenge and attraction of veterinary surgery. This creates a certain amount of tension between them, and the elder Trout creates a bit more pressure with his insistence that Nick give the the two current dogs a "once over" on each visit home, long before Nick has any real veterinary knowledge, and despite the fact that the male in particular is not very tolerant of being examined.
But this is a loving, devoted family. Nick's father wants what's best for him, even when it means giving up his own dream of managing his son's country practice--and even when it means his son moves across an ocean to be a veterinary surgeon in America. Nick learns from his father's dogs, and from his father. And they maintain a close connection even when an ocean apart.
America brings him new experiences, not just in surgery, but in the form of a wife, daughters, and even the new and startling experience of cats as pets. This is a warm and loving memoir, and a different side of Nick Trout than we see in his other books.
Recommended. -
"Ever By My Side" is the second of Nick Trout's books that I have read. Trout writes not only about his veterinary practice in this volume, but also about the pets in his own life.
Starting with childhood dog Patch and moving up through pets belonging to his own daughters, Trout explores the human-animal bond in the context of his own family. Amusing anecdotes about his father's obsession with James Herriott and Yorkshire abound, including how those obsessions did (or, in some cases, did not) influence Trout to become a veterinarian.
Those who love pets will be sure to recognize themselves in many of the stories Trout shares, as he works to ingratiate himself with his fiancee's cat, Reggie, or as he shares his terror of childhood nemesis Marty, a toy poodle belonging to his grandmother. There are tender moments and funny moments, all written from the compassionate perspective of one who has chosen to heal our animal friends.
Highly recommended.
(Review based on uncorrected advance proof.) -
If you love animals you will love Trout's books. I have read them all. This one is a memoir around the theme of animals he has lived with and loved, primarily dogs. It's also about his deep relationship with his father who has an equally deep relationship with his dogs. His writing is both funny and compelling. He has a great empathy for people and animals alike. PS. You should also read his mystery. They're great as well.
PPS. One note of criticism. While he accords animals with respect and dignity, he continues to refer to them as "pets" and humans as their "owners." I don't believe that we can own someone else (except within the institution of slavery where we find so many animals today). All animals are their own beings and if they choose to live with us, we don't own them. We share our lives with them, much as we do with children, friends and partners. -
I loved it! Anyone who loves pets will love this book. I found it interesting that his Dad fixated on All Creatures Great and Small (another book I loved...series too). Although this was a book by a veterinarian, it was quite different from other books by veterinarians because it seemed he told his story through his pets rather than through his patients. At times it made me laugh and at times it was quite sad. It makes me hope he continues to write books so I can see what happens next, and I will definately have to read his two previous books.
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Nick Trout may not have followed in James Herriot's exact footsteps like his father secretly hoped, but he did come up with the best possible way to structure a memoir, fitting his narrative around his relationship with various family pets from childhood to present day. The animals are at the forefront of each chapter, but he also highlights strong family bonds and gives us a glimpse into his training and early career as a veterinarian. And I must say, he has had a lot of excellent pets in his life. I loved reading about all of them.
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As an animal lover, I was excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint. It was easy to relate to Trout's compassion for all types of animals, and I found myself crying during several parts. In addition, the format was easy to read, a perfect example of a memoir. I am a teacher, and can't wait to share this book with my students. Anyone who has ever had a pet should read this book!
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For how much I love "Tell Me Where It Hurts", I was disappointed by this one. I actually read it twice; one when I first bought it and again just now as I'm trying to purge the shelves of books I won't read again....
It was okay... but just okay.... nothing memorable for me :o(
Giving this one away... -
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. I'm not very good at reviews but I can write a little one for you all! If you are a dog lover, then this is a book for you. It shows a kid growing up wanting to be a veterinarian. This book has a lot of love with dogs.
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This audio combined two of my favorite things: stories about pets read by a guy with a British accent. What's not to like? Especially since most of the stories were about dogs. Trout made a lot of points that are worth reflecting on for those who love their pets.
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I can't help it, I'm a sucker for dog books. Ever by My Side is a memoir of a British-born veterinarian and the relationships with the dogs he has had in his life. It was heartwarming, funny, insightful and endearing.
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Just not the book for me. I found it difficult following the narrative and didn't finish it.
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Sometimes, when you are lucky, you read a book, and at the end, find a passage that kicks you in the gut and takes your breath away all at the same time, leaving you with tears rolling down your face...
"I am another parent who watched his children head off for the first day of kindergarten, blinked, and saw them tossing a mortarboard into the air. Here I am, thirty years later... like all the best rides, it's over before you know it, but this time, when it's time to get off, you and your child must head in separate directions. I think most parents instinctively want to keep their children in their lives... I wonder if I have what it takes to know that a child's pursuit of happiness, whatever it involves and wherever it takes them, must always supersede a parent's sense loss."
A beautiful, tender moving book about the love we have for our family, both two legged and four legged. -
A beautiful uplifting book. The first chapter had me laughing which was exactly what I needed. Having our 2 CKC American Cockers die 10 months apart at age 3, mother and dear friend die and our sweet boy Cooper was almost the last straw. All these losses in 10 months.
Can we adopt another dog? Yes. This book is instrumental for healing and starting over. Lifting up over your grief.
Following the author who is currently reading When Things Fall Apart , that was started last evening. Thank you Dr Trout for sharing your wisdom. -
Looking for nice stories about dogs and cats and the role they play in our lives? You can't go wrong with anything by Nick Trout. In this book, Trout reviews his life thus far in the context of the dogs (and cat) that came and went in his family. Granted the animals don't live forever, but he avoids lingering moments of sorrow by focusing on the good that our pets bring to our lives (plus there are no scenes of suffering). Suitable for animal lovers of all ages.
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Five stars for a very good read that is very well written. From beginning to end the Author had my attention and kept my attention as he wrote about his own life in the eyes of the pets he has had. Not just his life you will learn, but the animal's and his family's lives are detailed in such an interesting and moving way that you will end the book as if you knew all of them personally.
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This is my third book by Nick Trout, DVM. Being autobiographical, it focuses on Nick's life and how dogs and cats affected him and his family. I liked the honesty. I love how Nick paints pictures with his words. Like in the first book of his that I listened to (The Wonder of Lost Causes), I found myself smiling or tearing up at times.
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