Uncle Boris in the Yukon and Other Shaggy Dog Stories

By Daniel Pinkwater and Jill Pinkwater

Book Overview

There have been books about dogs since books began -- manuals on training and raising them, stories featuring dogs, and memoirs seen through the eyes of dogs. Lately, there has been a rash of books that purport to tell us what dogs are thinking, such as the bestselling "What Dogs Are Thinking." This is a book about a Jewish boy and his sled dogs -- also a couple of wolves, a parrot or two...and Pinkwater's uncle...and his father. Daniel Pinkwater, prodigious author of books for children, popular commentator on National Public Radio, and dog trainer to the stars, is unclear about what dogs are thinking. In fact, he appears to be completely baffled by them. He considers himself lucky that his dog does not foul the carpet, bite people, or run in traffic. Unlike every other dog book ever written, this one does not make the reader feel more stupid than the author.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684856328
• ISBN13: 9780684856322
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.5" x 1.0" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

great book

For those of you unfamiliar with the works of the great author, Daniel Pinkwater, this book is definitely a great introduction to his warm wit, insight and great personality (it can't help but pop off of the page). This book is really a Valentine to all of the dogs that have come and gone in Pinkwater's life. This starts all the way back during his formative years, as a young boy, when his Uncle Boris gave his family a "purebred" Pekignese, up until his acquired Matilda, his elderly wolf hound, when he was already married to his wife, Jill Pinkwater (also a wonderfully talented writer). Though I haven't read this book in two years, the material is still fresh in my memory. Not ony did these dogs teach Pinkwater how to be a better master, but also brought him some wonderful life lessons, through his companionship with them. I feel that he really had dog lovers in mind, when he penned this book of short stories, but it definitely will appeal to people who have never even owned a pet dog. The stories are so engaging, funny and (even) tender. I definitely reccomend this....five bones out of five......

Great book for any dog-lover

Daniel Pinkwater is a very smart and funny writer -- one who knows the value of not taking himself too seriously. This thoroughly enjoyable book points out what most perceptive dog-lovers know: that dogs have a lot to teach us, about them and about ourselves. Pinkwater's dogs have taught him, among other things, that having the capacity to be both silly and dignified enriches a life. I ended up reading this book one chapter at a time before bedtime, and each night I'd go to sleep with a smile.If you loves dogs, you'll enjoy this book -- which also makes a great gift for the dog-lovers in your life.

Rave reviews for Uncle Boris in the Yukon

Anyone who knows Daniel Manus Pinkwater's work is destined to buy this book for the sheer pleasure of carefully digesting every syllable he writes, as always. In this autobiographical book he bears his huge soul, his comical side (that we all know and love) and his uncanny, campy, unusual way of looking at the world, all as it relates to his many relationships with Canines.Buy it! You will not be disappointed.

Still magical, even in the adult world

This collection of stories about family, dogs, and the bonds that make life worthwhile contains much of the Pinkwater magic and whimsy. As a long time Pinkwater reader and fan, I feel like this time he's not telling a story, but simply sharing his life - one friend to another.My dog, Gracie, also recommends this one as a "dog & person" snuggle read.

Dogs from the Pinkwater Perspective

Former professional dog trainer, author, humorist, and commentator on National Public Radio, Daniel Pinkwater introduces the tale of his Uncle Boris, a small time hoodlum from Warsaw, Poland, as a jumping off point about the author's life-long relationship with dogs. According to Pinkwater, Uncle Boris left Europe to pan for gold in the Yukon. During those long stretches away from civilization, Uncle Boris' only companions were his team of malamutes, especially his lead dog Jake, with whom he would carry on two-way conversations in Yiddish. Unsuccessful in his hunt for gold, and later a talking dog act, Boris ends up settling in Brooklyn, New York. A life long dog fancier, "making a profitable side line of faking and selling purebreds", he brings to his brother a sort of Pekingese. When the newborn Daniel arrives on the scene, Bobby, appoints himself the infant's guardian, protecting him from being eaten during that period of his life when Pinkwater described himself as resembling a meatloaf. According to Pinkwater, Bobby "and the other dogs, taught me what I needed to know about becoming a human being."Uncle Boris in the Yukon and Other Shaggy Dog Stories is devoted to the accounts, both hilarious and poignant, of Pinkwater's journey to and through adulthood, and the critters that have shared and shaped his life and outlook: the dogs he and wife Jill have owned, among them three Alaskan malamutes and an Akita cross, as well as the hundreds they encountered as professional obedience instructors; also Matilda the Wolf and an Inuit Sled Dog named Puggiq, described as the happiest being ever encountered. Currently the Pinkwaters share their home with Maxine, an aging Labrador retriever and Lulu, a five year old Inuit Sled Dog.Delightfully illustrated by Jill Pinkwater, Uncle Boris in the Yukon and Other Shaggy Dog Stories is more than just pleasurable reading. Those of us who are "doggie" in general and have northern breeds in particular will appreciate Pinkwater's keen, if slightly embellished, perception and understanding about dogs, and will surely recognize similarities with some of our own four-legged companions.