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Sight Hound: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Pam Houston
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 492098
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 342
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0393058174
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780393058178
ASIN: 0393058174
Publication Date: January 30, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: SOFTCOVER LOOKS FINE PAGES FINE WITH LIGHT TANNING
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Amazon.com Review
At the heart of Pam Houston's tender novel Sight Hound is a surprisingly thoughtful three-legged Irish wolfhound named Dante. Convinced that it is his responsibility to teach the humans around him about love, he concentrates his efforts on his owner Rae. While the thought of a canine in the lead role may give many pause, in this case it shouldn't. Houston manages to pull this aspect of the story off with skill and is able to create a multi-dimensional character out of a cancer-riddled old dog. She's not quite as successful with the humans in her story, however, and the array of voices the story is told in quickly becomes confusing. A decent novel on its own, Sight Hound may leave long-time Houston fans feeling a little cheated. Personal essays and short stories like those in Cowboy Are My Weakness and A Little More About Me stir the heart and endear readers to Houston's signature blend of over-the-top confidence and girlish insecurity. Fans will gobble this effort up while anxiously waiting for more from Houston, but readers new to her work might do better to start on her earlier titles. --Victoria Griffith
Product Description
The long-awaited novel—a very special love story—from the best-selling author of Cowboys Are My Weakness. This is the story of a woman, Rae, and her dog, Dante, a wolfhound who teaches "his human" that love is stronger than fear (the dog has always known this). Dante is the catalyst for change in other characters as well, and they step forward with their narratives: Rae's house-tender; her therapist; two veterinarians; and an anxiety-ridden actor, Howard, who turns out to be as stalwart as Dante himself. As the "seer" who hunts by sight rather than smell, Dante has some things to add, as does Rose, another dog who lives at Rae's heels, and Stanley the cat. Among and above these myriad voices, Rae voices her own challenges. With the wit and dead-on candor we've come to expect from Pam Houston, Sight Hound unfolds a story that illuminates the intangible covenant between loved ones. Here, dogs and humans are simply equal creatures, looking to connect and holding on for dear life when they do.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 Interesting style, tender story May 6, 2008
This was a truly enjoyable book by Pam Houston. I liked her writing style, where each chapter was told by a different character in the story, thus offering multiple perspectives on the action and plot.
It's a rather sad story about an Irish Wolfhound with osteosarcoma, and his owner, a playwrite from Colorado, who must deal with the dog's illness. It's not all doom and gloom though...there are some very funny parts. Ultimately, however, the book is about faith. Faith in love, faith in relationships, and faith in oneself.
The main characters are a hodge-podge of damaged eccentrics: two vets, two playwrites, a singer, a hockey player, a house sitter and an actor...but the most delightful chapters are the ones told by the two dogs and the cat. Dante, the enlightened Wolfhound, is the most endearing character of the lot, and the reader is drawn into the drama of his illness along with his owner Rae.
A great read.
- C.A.Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail
For anyone whose ever loved a dog.... July 26, 2007
This book was a bit hard to get into, but grabbed me and held me tight soon thereafter. A must read for anyone whose ever loved a dog as much as a person. I loved the unique way she told the story from many perspectives, especially the dogs.
I really wanted to give this 5 stars March 25, 2007
This book pulled my heart strings. I too lost my "soul mate" dog to bone cancer and it was eerie how many links there were to my real life. Hearing Dante talk was theraputic, I would dearly love to know what my dogs think. Rose describing her favourite treat couldn't have been put better! The emotional ups and downs between the humans and dogs are the best I've read and help put this book in my top 10.
I also loved Pam Houston's chapter in Dog is my Co-Pilot.
But the first chapter is tough (power through everyone it is worth it!) and the human characters are not real, they seem "Hollywood" (ie created for a television movie and manipulated).
Fall in love with Dante January 10, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of my top 5 favorite books. Dante is a dog that you will fall in love with- one you will cry for- and one that will bring you hope. Houston shows with a unique perspective what our companion animals can bring to our lives.
 Heart - felt gems of wisdom but lacking in convincing plot development August 9, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
There is much to like about this book, but it is not ultimately as satisfying as it might have been. First, the many good things.
If you like dogs, know one, have one, would like to have one, then what's likeable about the book is the homage it pays to dogs and what they can do for people. For folks very rooted in empiricism, it may be a little over the top, because the dogs are given complex consciousness, understanding, and generosity. But for dog lovers, it can be fun to imagine that degree of complex thinking in our canine companions. The dogs are hard not to love.
The writing is light and funny. Great turns of phrase, irony, hyperbole, even jokes. So it's an amusing read.
The story touches on some poignant themes, especially the illness of the main dog character, an Irish wolfhound named Dante. There are two important aspects of this theme: the refinement of veterinary medicine through Dante as experimental treatment subject; and the emotional growth of Dante's owner Rae as she comes to terms with loving and losing her beloved Dante through illness and death.
Another appealing theme is Rae's progress through faulty love affairs to finally emerge with enough self-love to recognize a good love match when it comes her way. [Dante is given as much credit for this outcome as either of the human protagonists, and that's another bit of dog homage that may appeal to doglovers but might leave the uninitiated cold.]
Now the not so good aspects of this novel.
Another reviewer here made the point that there are lots of characters who speak and tell the story and that it can get confusing. I didn't share the confusion but I couldn't get interested in all the perspectives because some of the characters were not developed enough for me to care what they thought of things. They seemed like extraneous filler.
And that leads me to agree with yet another reviewer here that the voice and language or each character were not distinct. Several characters blended right in with each other so that it seemed to be the same perspective offered despite the different names assigned to the narrative.
Finally, the book had a good beginning and strong ending, but the middle part didn't seem to go anywhere. There is a suicide midway that doesn't seem related to other things going on in the book. There is a hockey player character who is too exaggerated to be either interesting or convincing. A drought that the main characters must endure conveys respect for nature and the characters' nostalgia for the beauty of the Colorado landscape. But because not all of the characters are well developed to be important, the novel reads like good, strong bookends holding up a library of only mild interest.
That said, I still recommend the book for the positive qualities I mentioned above, because it has moments that are moving, and because it is entertaining.
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