Every so often a book comes along that is just so unusual and so
meaningful that we feel compelled to write about it. Such is the case
with Sue Halpern’s sixth and latest work, A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher.
Halpern is an editor at The New York Review of Books, freelance
journalist, and scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College whose
previous books have ranged from a study of butterfly migrations to the
science of aging and memory. In her new book, the protagonist is a
six-year-old Labradoodle named Pransky, and the supporting cast
consists largely of octogenarians who live in a county-run nursing home
in Vermont. The story starts with Halpern looking for new ways to
engage Pransky while her husband is on the road and her daughter has
gone off to school. Halpern decides that she and the dog (who spends
most of her days running leash-less in the woods and fields of the
Green Mountains) should train to become a therapy team at the local
nursing home.
Halpern is a gifted storyteller, and the tale of Pransky’s
transformation from free-spirited pet to well-mannered therapy dog,
beginning with a devious strategy Halpern dreams up to help her pooch
pass the certification test, provides enough humor and entertainment to
make for a great book. But beyond the surface story, Halpern is really chronicling a deeper journey: Over three years of visits to the
nursing home, she and Pransky negotiate new terrain—the landscape of
aging, where simple acts of kindness reveal worlds about our own
humanity. Sprinkling in elements of philosophy, morality, and ethics
(subjects about which Halpern has written previously), Halpern recounts
how her own assumptions and presumptions about the elderly and infirm
are challenged as she and Pransky make their weekly rounds. Moreover,
it is Pransky, the open-minded, generous, and nonjudgmental canine, who
turns out to be her greatest moral guide and teacher.
A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is compassionate and
profound—a work uplifting in its honesty and integrity. Not only do we
encourage you to read this book (and we’re confident that anyone who
reads it, dog-lover or not, will fall in love with Pransky), we hope
you’ll join us for an event with Halpern at Politics & Prose on
Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m.
Dogs (and humans) welcome.
- Brad and Lissa
at Sixth & I
to purchase.
Politics
& Prose is hiring a full-time accounts payable assistant, but
would consider a strong part-time candidate. In addition to accounts
payable matters, responsibilities include handling co-op advertizing,
organizing mail, and performing other projects/tasks as needed. The
ideal candidate would be someone who pays attention to detail, accuracy
and timeliness; possesses strong organizational skills; is proficient
in Excel; works well with little supervision; and is able to handle
multiple tasks and take on new ones as needed. Bookselling and
accounting/bookkeeping experience is preferable, but not
necessary. Great independent bookstore environment, benefits. Send
cover letter and resumé to Ron Tucker, 
at Sixth & I
at Sixth & I
at Sidwell Friends School
