Merle's Door - Kerasote

 A few things are not clear when you begin to read “Merle’s Door – Lessons from a Freethinking Dog”, by Ted Kerasote.  First of all it is not clear how to pronounce his (the dog’s) name correctly.  And second it is not clear until the end that you are reading the biography of a dog.  It’s a very clever method that just creeps up on you.  I doubt I would have read a book labeled, “a dog’s biography” so they drew me in with, “Lessons from a Free Thinking Dog”.   

There have been other attempts to do similar things – “Marley and Me” jumps out, but Kerasote, Merle’s chosen biographer,  has succeeded magnificently with this book.  Partly because Kerasote is no ordinary writer, he writes prolifically about the outdoors, and partly because Merle’s was no ordinary life, this dog’s story is captured as effortlessly as the freethinking life that he led.  

Kerasote was chosen by Merle as his biographer just as sure a Merle chose Kerasote to be his human on the banks of the San Juan River where they chanced upon one another and stayed together for the next 14 years.  With keen insight into Merle’s amazing behavior, sometimes canine and sometimes of an intellect and sophistication beyond that which we call human, Kerasote captures forever the life of this special animal.  In so doing the “Door” that Merle was free to enter and exit on his own free will, becomes representative of something far greater, it’s the window into the soul of intelligent life.

Sometimes repetitive and sometimes a bit “fictitious” as Kerasote attempts to translate Merle’s language into ours, the story and the life of this dog are real.  I’ve had several dogs in my life but after experiencing Merle’s life through his door, I feel like Merle was my dog as well.